I'll Always Be There For You
by WriterAtHeart14
Summary: It's the summer between 8th grade and Freshman year. Troy and Gabi are still going strong. But when a familar and...scary face shows up one day, how's Gabi gonna take it? Will Troy be there to rescue her this time? Sequal to I'll Always Be There. RATED T!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM!**

**Alright guys….the moment you've all been waiting for. The sequel to I'll Always Be There!**

**I updated the rest of my stories and decided I should at least start with this one. I hope you guys like it! **

Troy and Gabriella were sitting in the tree house of Troy's backyard.

They had been friends forever and dating for awhile now. Everything was going great between them.

"I can't believe we're going into high school." Gabi said as she laid her head on Troy's shoulder. It was the summer between 8th grade and freshman year.

Troy wrapped a protective arm around his girlfriend. "Yeah, it's all happening so fast."

"Troy…what if Tom is there? What if he got out of jail?" Gabriella asked quietly.

Tom Wesley attempted to kidnap Gabriella and she hadn't completely gotten over it.

Troy sighed. "He won't be. And if he is, I'll protect you. I'll always be there, remember?"

She slowly nodded. "I remember." She said quietly. Troy and her had that little saying to reassure each other when the other was worried about something.

Gabriella's phone vibrated. She sighed and reached down and read the text. "My mom wants me home." She said looking up at Troy.

"Ok…I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, thanks. It was fun up here, today. As usual." Gabriella said smiling and climbing down the ladder.

Troy laughed. "I always have a good time with you." He said as they reached the ground.

Gabriella stood on her tip-toes and gave Troy a quick kiss on the lips as she walked out of the yard.

They pair weren't so awkward about their relationship anymore. It was all normal. Gabriella felt safe and protected with Troy, and Troy loved to protect Gabriella and just talk with her when

she needed it. In other words, they were meant for each other.

As Gabriella walked down the block to her own house, she smiled at the day she and Troy had spent together.

Troy invited her to a picnic in the tree house which Gabi thought was romantic. They mostly sat, talked, and ate but over all it was an enjoyable evening.

When Gabriella reached the front door of her home she unlocked the door and walked in. "Mom! I'm home." She called.

"In the kitchen sweetie!" Her mom called back.

Gabriella walked into the kitchen and her mother smiled. "How was it at Troy's?"

"Amazing. As usual." Gabi said smiling walking over to the counter.

"Oh, you had a visitor. He came not to long ago and I told him to wait in the backyard."

"Oh, ok…thanks mom." Gabi said walking out of the kitchen and towards the backdoor. She wondered who it could be. It couldn't be Troy. She just left there. She doubted it was Chad, he

didn't really visit much.

She opened the door and walked onto the porch.

"Hey, Bella." A voice said from behind her.

Gabi whirled around. It couldn't be….but it was.

It was Tom.

"Wh-what are y-you d-d-doing here?" She stuttered as she walked backwards towards the door.

"I got out of jail early and thought I'd pay my favorite girl a visit." Tom said walking closer.

"G-g-get away from m-me!" She yelled.

"No way." Tom said as he gripped Gabriella's wrists and pushed her up against the house wall.

She winced. "Wh-what is n-n-now?"

"You're going to break up with Bolton. And if anyone asks, you and I are dating now. Or else, you'll never see Bolton or you 'loving' mother again." Tom whispered to her.

"B-b-but I l-love Tr-Troy." Gabi said, trying to sound confident.

"You belong to me." He said.

Gabi jumped but stood strong. "I'm n-not someone's p-p-property. I love Tr-Troy. H-he l-loves m-me. Y-you can't m-m-make m-me b-break up w-with h-h-him." Her stuttering was getting

worse.

"Shut up!" He said louder.

He looked into the window to make sure Ms. Montez didn't notice.

"Do it, now."

She slowly nodded as tears began to fall down her cheeks. She took out her cell phone with a shaky hand and speed dialed Troy's number. She didn't want to do this but it was for Troy's

safety as well as her mother's.

**Gabriella/**_Troy_

"_Hello?" _

Gabriella let out a sob as she heard his voice. Tom gripped her arm harder.

"_Brie? What's wrong?"_

"**Troy…I think we need to….to…to break up." **Gabriella held back another sob as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"_What? Why? What happened?"_

"**I…I just think we don't belong together…."** Tom's grip tightened on her arm. **"I don't love you…" **Gabriella choked out.

At first nothing was heard on the other line until Troy finally spoke up, _"If that's what you want then…fine."_

It killed Gabriella to do that to him. But she was fighting for his and her mother's safety. **"I gotta go…bye."**

And she quickly hung up.

"Good…now you're my girlfriend, got it?"

"B-b-but won't everyone be s-s-suspicious?"

"No, they won't. Because you're going to act like nothing happened." Tom said gruffly.

She slowly nodded.

"Now, take me to meet your mom. We're going to break the news to her."

Gabriella didn't want to, but she knew she had to. So she nodded and led Tom inside.

Tom wrapped his arm around Gabi like he really did love her and Gabi tried to put on a fake smile as they walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Gabi….who's this?"

"Mom….this is…my….my….my b-b-boyfriend, Tom." Gabi choked out.

"I thought, you were with Troy?" Gabriella's mom looked confused and somewhat suspicious.

"W-well, I….I don't love Troy anymore. I love…T-T-Tom." Gabriella winced as she said this. It killed her to say the boy who tried to kidnapped her, was the boy she loved.

"Alright…well, it's nice to meet you, Tom." Ms. Montez said reaching out to shake Tom's hand. Ms. Montez gave Gabriella a confused look.

But Gabriella looked away, and forced herself to smile.

"You as well, Ms. Montez." Tom said smiling.

"Well, I've got to be going. I'll call you later, Bella." Tom said lightly kissing Gabriella's cheek.

She winced.

"Ok, b-b-bye T-Tom." Gabriella said.

After Tom left Ms. Montez looked at Gabi. "Are you ok, Gabi? You're stuttering? Did something happen? You only stutter when your scared."

"I-I'm f-fine, M-mom."

"Are you sure? Your still stuttering."

"Y-yes, I-I am. R-really."

"Well, what happened? A minute ago, you were saying how amazing Troy's house was and then minutes later you've already moved on?"

"I-I'm g-going upstairs." Gabi said running to her room.

Later that night, Gabi was upstairs reading. She missed dinner to avoid more questioning from her mother. She was hungry but she just didn't want to talk about Tom. She really didn't want

to talk about Tom. She was scared out of her mind that Tom had gotten back and found out where she lived. Now, she was dating him!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her balcony doors. She looked up to see Troy, standing there with a worried expression and sadness in his eyes. She slowly walked over to the

doors and opened them. She couldn't avoid him forever.

"Hey, Troy." She said softly.

"Hi Brie." He said walking inside.

It was an awkward silence.

Gabi broke it. "So what's up?"

"Did something happen today?"

"N-No….w-why?" _Crap he's gonna notice..._

"Brie...you're stuttering. What's wrong?" Troy was trying to resist the urge to run up and hug Gabi, but he knew _she_ was the one to break up with him.

"N-Nothing...j-just h-hiccups."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yeah. W-why?"

"Well, you leave my house all happy and smiling, and you call back a half hour later and you break up with me."

Gabi calmed herself down to talk normally now. "I know…I'm really sorry."

He shook his head. "What happened?"

"Nothing…I just…didn't feel the spark anymore." Gabriella had to hold back tears as she said this. She was lying to her best friend.

Troy looked down. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to lie about our relationship." A lone tear rolled down Gabriella's cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

It didn't go unnoticed by Troy. "You sure you're ok, Brie?" He said slowly walking closer.

"No!" Gabriella said a little too quickly, backing away from Troy. "I'm fine. Just...a little tired."

Troy didn't meet her eyes. And Gabi didn't meet his.

"Troy?" Gabi asked softly.

He looked up but didn't meet her gaze.

"Troy, look at me."

He looked her in the eye.

"I want us to be friends still, ok? I couldn't live without you, you dork." Gabriella said smiling softly.

A small smile appeared on Troy's face. "Yeah, and I couldn't live without you either, Gabs."

The pair shared a hug.

They smiled at each other.

"You should probably be going, I don't want your mom to worry." Gabi said getting up from the bed.

"Yeah…I guess. Do you still want to hang out tomorrow?"

"Maybe…I guess so."

"Cool. I'll see you then."

She nodded as she watched him climb over the railing, down the tree and walk out of her yard.

She sighed. She was lying to him. And it was getting to her.

She sat down on the balcony's floor and softly began to cry.

**A/N-So do you guys like it? I'll update tomorrow ASAP! Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N-Hey guys! I know your all really excited for the story. **

**To tell you all the truth so am I. I have a lot of time because where I live it's just been basically nonstop rain, so I'm definitely not wasting my time! Hope you guys like it!**

Gabriella let out a sob. She wanted so badly to reach for her phone and call and tell Troy everything. But she knew that if she did, she would put him and her mom in danger and she couldn't risk that.

Her sobs got louder.

Little did she know a certain someone heard her crying and ran back to her house.

"Brie?" A gentle voice asked.

She looked up. "T-Troy?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Troy asked bending down to face Gabi.

The feeling came over Gabi again. But she resisted.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She said wiping away her tears.

"I know that's not true. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"I'm fine, honestly Troy."

"Brie, please. Tell me what's wrong. I'm not going to laugh or run away, if that's what your worried about. Please, I want to help."

"You still care even after I dumped you?" She asked quietly.

"Of course I still care Brie. I always have and I always will."

"Well, I'm fine Troy."

"Gabriella, why are you keeping this from me?"

I winced. He never used my full name. "I'm not keeping anything from you."

"Then why are you crying?"

"It's…It's not important."

"It is to me."

"Well…it isn't to me." Gabriella said standing up.

"If it makes you upset it is _very _important to me. I care about you, Gabriella. I don't know if you care about me still, but I care about you. I always have." Troy said standing up too.

"Thank you, Troy. I still care about you too."

It was an awkward silence.

"Brie, I'm not going to push anymore. But I want to tell you this, when your ready to tell me why you were crying, I'll be more then happy to listen, ok?"

Gabi nodded.

Troy walked over to the railing and was about to climb over but Gabi said, "Wait, Troy!"

Troy looked at her.

"Why don't you just stay? I heard it was supposed to storm." Gabriella said looking up at the sky.

Dark gray clouds gathering in the sky.

"Alright, I gotta call my mom though." Troy said as a distant rumble of thunder sounded.

Gabi nodded again and she and Troy walked inside.

After Troy got off the phone with his mom, Gabi checked with her mom to see if everything was alright. Which it was.

Troy and Gabi were currently sitting on Gabi's bed just talking as a loud thunder clap sounded and lightening flashed.

On instinct, Gabriella whimpered and ran over to Troy and cuddled into his side.

"It's ok, Brie. It's ok, it can't hurt you." Troy said rubbing her arm.

Gabriella was still a little afraid of thunder storms and Troy had always been there to comfort her.

Gabriella looked out her balcony doors but said nothing.

"Still embarrassed about it?" Troy asked softly.

Gabi nodded looking up at him.

"It's fine, Gabs." Troy said rubbing her back.

Suddenly, Gabi's eyes widened and she pulled away from Troy.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked confused.

Gabriella shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Brie, why aren't you talking?"

_Because I'll start stuttering…_ Gabi thought.

"N-no reason. W-why?" Gabriella asked trying not to stutter.

"Now, you're stuttering. Gabi, are you sure you're ok?" Troy said getting off the bed and walking closer to Gabriella.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm…uh, f-fine. W-why?" Gabriella said backing away from Troy.

"You're just kind of jumpy all of a sudden." Troy said still slowly walking closer to Gabriella.

Gabriella backed up so far she hit the doors. There was no where she could go now.

"I-I'm f-fine. R-really, T-troy."

"You only stutter when your scared or nervous and it looks like a little bit of both right now."

"T-troy, y-you're th-the one s-starting to s-scare m-me r-right n-n-now."

"I'm sorry but I would really like to know what's wrong. Please, Brie."

"I-if I-I t-tell y-you, y-you'll b-be in d-d-danger." Gabriella gasped and covered her mouth. She wasn't supposed to say even that. Tom could be watching right now.

"I won't be in danger, I promise. Just tell me, Brie. It's fine. I won't laugh, I won't leave you, I won't hate you. Just tell me." Troy said softly.

Gabi shook her head. "You _will _be in danger and it'll be my fault."

A silence broke out.

All you could hear was the rain pounding on the roof and against the doors.

Troy looked into Gabi's eyes and Gabi looked into his.

Brown met blue.

Troy slowly leaned in closer and before Gabi could protest he kissed her.

At first Gabi was going to pull away but she soon found herself kissing him back.

Gabriella reached up and ran her fingers through Troy's hair.

Gabriella couldn't help it. She suddenly forgot about Tom. She forgot about telling Troy the truth. She forgot about the rain outside.

And she didn't care.

**A/N-Whew! That was an interesting 2nd**** chapter wasn't it? What do you guys think? Romantic? Kinda cheesy? I want to know!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM!**

**Hey guys! I'm glad you guys like the story! I would've published earlier but, I had writer's block on my other story and couldn't start this chapter. Anyway, hope you like this chapter!**

When Troy pulled back, Gabriella looked at him.

"That was…" Gabriella started.

Troy smiled.

"Amazing." Gabriella finished smiling.

Troy just smiled at Gabi.

Suddenly, reality hit Gabriella. "Oh….oh, my God. I can't believe I just did that." She said getting away from the balcony doors and started pacing.

"Why what's wrong?"

But Gabriella didn't hear him. "Oh my God. What if he saw that? I'm in so much trouble." Gabriella mumbled.

"He? He who?"

Gabriella gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh God, I wasn't supposed to say that."

Troy held Gabriella still. "What are you talking about, Brie?"

"I-I…I'm sorry. That kiss was….amazing, but that still doesn't change my mind. I'm sorry." Gabi covered.

"Brie, right now, that kiss doesn't matter to me. Yes, that was amazing I agree but, there is something really bothering you. It's bothering _me. _I really need to know what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me, honestly!"

"Gabriella, honestly! Why are you lying to me?" Troy yelled.

Gabriella winced. He's never yelled at her before. "I-I…I'm not lying."

"Yes, you are! Why can't you just tell me? We've been best friends since we could barely crawl and you won't tell me what's been bothering you?"

"I'm sorry, Troy. Maybe, I just need to keep things to myself for once." Gabriella said annoyed.

"But…what's gotten into you? You've been different since this afternoon. You've been all jumpy and you keep stuttering."

"Nothing is wrong, Troy! How many times do I have to repeat that?" Gabi yelled.

"Obviously something's wrong! Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Why are you suddenly all in my business! I have a life, Troy! I have a life away from you!" Gabi yelled.

Troy was a little shocked at Gabi's outburst but acted like he didn't care. "But I just want to help you! What is so bad about talking?" Troy yelled.

"Just forget it, Troy." Gabi yelled walking away from Troy and over to the balcony doors.

Troy didn't know what to say. He and Gabriella had never fought in there lives.

Troy sighed. "Brie…I'm really sorry for yelling. I just…I didn't know what to do."

Gabriella looked down and then at Troy. "I don't know what to say to you anymore. For the first time since I met you, I have no idea what to say to you."

"I…I'm sorry." Troy said.

Gabi sighed and shook her head. "I just need some time to think, Troy. You're welcome to stay but, I just need some time."

Troy nodded. "If you need me, I'll be downstairs."

Gabi just continued looking out the windows.

When Troy got downstairs he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Troy." Ms. Montez greeted.

"Hi Ms. Montez."

"Things are kinda different now that you guys aren't dating, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What's wrong, Troy? Did something happen?"

"Me and Gabs had a fight."

"About what?"

And Troy went on to explain most of the situation.

"She's been acting weird around me too. I'd really like to know what's bothering her but she insists nothings wrong."

"Same here. What are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure. We have to come up with something though."

"Maybe we can trick her into saying it. And even if that doesn't work, maybe we could get some information out of her."

"I think that might work."

"It's worth a shot."

"Alright, you and I will both try tonight. You try right now, or whenever she wants to talk to you. And I'll try at dinner. We have to keep trying until we get some information."

"Ok, I'll do that."

Just then Gabriella came into the kitchen. "Troy…can I talk to you, in the living room please?"

"Sure, Brie." Troy said walking out of the kitchen.

Once they both sat down on the couch, Gabi took Troy's hands.

"Troy, I want you to know, that I do care and love you. But not like that. I do have some secrets but it's something that I'm not ready to share yet."

Troy nodded. "Ok, Brie. But do mind if I ask you a couple questions?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Who's the he, you're talking about?"

Gabi sighed. Should I tell him?

**A/N-So now, it's up to you guys. Gabi needs your help! Should she at least tell Troy who 'he' is? Or should she keep it a secret? Vote on my poll on my profile and I can't post another chapter until at least 5 people vote so, get voting!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~ **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM!**

**Hey guys! The votes are in and I have decided. To tell you all the truth, I'm as anxious as everyone else to see what happens….**

_"Troy, I want you to know, that I do care and love you. But not like that. I do have some secrets but it's something that I'm not ready to share yet."_

_Troy nodded. "Ok, Brie. But do mind if I ask you a couple questions?"_

_She nodded. "Sure."_

_"Who's the he, you're talking about?"_

_Gabi sighed. Should I tell him?_

"Troy…"

"Brie, you can tell me. I'd really like to know."

"The he I'm talking about is….T-Tom." I said quietly.

"What?" Troy said shocked.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I j-just…h-he's b-back. I-I'm sc-scared h-he's g-going t-to h-hurt m-me." Gabriella was starting to stutter again.

"He won't hurt you, I promise you. I made that promise in 6th grade and I'm keeping that promise. He will not hurt you." Troy said soothingly.

"B-but, Troy….th-there's s-sort o-of a t-twist t-to it." Gabi said.

"What do you mean?"

"Y-you c-can't t-tell h-him th-that y-you k-know."

"Gabriella, please. I can't let you stand by and get hurt-"

"Y-you w-won't b-be. A-as l-long a-as y-you're a-around h-he w-won't h-hurt m-me. H-he'll a-act l-like h-he's ch-changed." Gabi interrupted him.

"I still don't like this. I'm basically giving him permission to hurt you."

"J-just….p-pretend t-to e-except h-him, f-for m-me?"

"Brie, I can't do that. I can't let you do this-"

"P-please, f-for m-me, Troy."

Troy was somewhat happy she could say his name without stuttering but upset that Gabi would even consider this.

"Brie…."

"F-follow m-me a-always, o-ok? D-don't l-let m-me o-out o-of y-your s-sight. S-sometimes y-you m-may c-come w-with m-me, and s-sometimes y-you m-might j-just b-be a-at a d-distance.

Th-that w-way I-I'll b-be p-protected."

Troy nodded but inside he didn't like the idea at all.

"H-he m-may c-come u-up t-to m-me b-but h-he w-won't t-try a-anything b-because h-he'll s-see y-you." Gabriella said as tears streamed down her face.

Troy pulled her into a hug. "Shhh…it's ok, Brie…you'll be ok. I'm always going to protect you. I'll always be there."

"B-but th-this t-time…y-your n-not th-there! W-we're n-not in s-school! H-he'll t-try a-anything!" Gabriella sobbed.

"Shhh…I _will _always be there. I promise you this and I will _not _let him hurt you even if it means I get hurt or even _die _because of it."

"B-but wh-what if-"

But Troy cut her off. "Shhh…Brie, don't think what if something bad happens, ok? I won't let that happen."

Gabriella nodded and whispered, "D-don't t-tell m-my m-mom."

"Gabriella-"

"P-please." Gabriella said with pleading eyes.

Troy nodded. "I promise. But you'll have to tell her sometime."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as Troy lifted her up and carried her to her room.

Ms. Montez came out of the kitchen. "Troy? Gabi? What's going on?"

Troy tried to put Gabi down but she whimpered and clung tighter to Troy.

"Shhh…you're alright." Troy whispered in her ear.

"Gabi's a little….emotional right now but don't worry, we'll be ready for dinner. And I know, I know, no funny business but we've never done that, Ms. Montez."

Ms. Montez smiled at the boy who was taking care of his daughter and nodded.

When Troy got into Gabi's room he gently kicked the door shut with his foot and sat on the bed with Gabi.

"Now, you need to tell me something I've been wondering since you told me Tom was back."

Gabi nodded against his chest.

"Did Tom make you break up with me?"

This made Gabriella even more upset.

"Oh, no…shhh…..shhh, I'm sorry. You don't have to answer…." Troy whispered.

"Y-yes, I-I d-do. I-I j-just…..I-I'm r-really u-upset w-with m-my a-answer b-because I-I th-thought I-I w-was st-stronger." Gabi said pulling her head up.

"You are strong. You just knew that Tom could hurt you. You didn't have a choice."

"Troy, a-as m-much a-as I-I-"

"Brie….first I want you to calm down. You're safe. Tom can't hurt you."

"B-but, Troy-"

"Calm down….ok? I'm right here." Troy soothed.

"Th-that's wh-what y-you s-said t-to m-me a-at th-the h-hospital wh-when I-I….w-wouldn't w-wake up." Gabriella hiccupped.

"But it's true, you need to calm down, Brie. Please, I'm right here. When you calm down, you can start explaining and I'll listen. I promise."

Gabi nodded. She couldn't tell Troy the whole story. Not yet. It's too soon. Tom could be watching...

She trusted Troy and all she wanted to do was be with him but, she knew that for his protection she was going to have to twist the story a bit.

"I-I'm ready." Gabriella said finally.

"I'm ready to listen." Troy said.

"After I left your house the other day, Mami said I had a visitor," Gabriella started.

Troy nodded. "And it was Tom?"

Gabi nodded. "He pushed me up against the wall and told me, I was his and I belonged to him. At first, I was pretty strong but I stuttered, but you know why that happens. I told him I'm

not property, which I'm not."

Troy nodded. "You're not, you're right."

Gabriella continued, "He told me that I had to break up with you. And still stuttering…I-I…I can't." Tears started to trickle down Gabi's face.

"Shhh….it's ok Brie. You don't have to if you can't but, I'd like it if you could. You can just get it over with now."

Gabriella nodded with tears still coming down her face. "I-I…I said that I loved you, and he gripped me harder and told me I had to break up with you."

"So, you did….and that's why you were crying on the phone when you did."

Gabi nodded. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have listened to him." She said burying her head into his shoulder.

Troy pulled Gabi towards the head of the bed and laid down with her. "Brie," He said rubbing her back. "I'm not mad. I'm glad you told me the truth."

Gabriella kept her head buried for a reason. She didn't want to look at Troy. The truth was, she didn't tell him the whole truth at all. She was ashamed but she still couldn't risk it. She couldn't tell Troy that Tom had forced her into dating him. Not now, not yet. The thing was, Gabi hadn't asked to get back together yet. For many reasons but mainly 2. 1, She couldn't because she would technically be cheating on Troy with Tom. She could never do that. 2, She knew if she did, both her and Troy would be in trouble she wouldn't dare risk his life.

"Troy, thank you." She said softly, her voice coming out muffled by his chest.

"Anytime, Brie….anytime." Troy said.

**A/N-Sooooo what do you guys think? Going well? Will Gabi ever tell Troy what really happened? Will Troy tell Ms. Montez what happened? Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N-Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been updating!**

**I just wanted to say, I saw Beastly yesterday with my best friend and I loved it! I also got the book right after the movie and finished it yesterday too and yes, there are some differences in the character's names and appearances but the actors and actresses did a great job doing the personalities. Personally, I think Vanessa did great! But that's my opinion…now, I'm obsessed with Beastly! What's your guys' opinion on the movie? Or the book?**

Another crack of thunder and lightning lit up the sky.

Gabriella jumped and whimpered, clinging to Troy.

"Shhh…relax, Brie. You're safe. I'm right here." Troy said rubbing her back.

Suddenly, Gabi's phone started vibrating from her nightstand.

Troy reached over grabbed it, and gave it to Gabi.

Gabriella looked at the I.D. "Oh no…" She muttered.

"What? Who is it, Brie?"

"I-it's T-tom." Gabriella stuttered.

"It's ok, just calm down." Troy soothed.

Gabi nodded. "H-hello?"

_Tom/ __**Gabi**_

"_Hey, Bell. It's me." _

"_**Don't call me that." **_

"_I can call you whatever I want. You're my girlfriend."_

Gabi pulled away from Troy's grasp and walked towards the balcony doors.

"_**Just don't call me that." **_

"_Whatever…anyway, did Bolton find out yet?" _

"_**No." **_

"_Good…did he come asking why?" _

"_**Yes." **_

"_What did you tell him?" _

"_**That I didn't like him anymore." **_Gabriella mumbled.

"_Good girl. Listen, I'm taking you to the park later, alright?" _

"_**But it's pouring outside." **_

"_I said later not now!" _

"_**Fine, fine." **_

"_Now, I'll come pick you up and we'll walk to the park, ok?" _

"…_**.whatever." **_Gabriella said and hung up.

"Brie…did I hear what I think I heard?"

"What did you hear?" Gabriella whispered.

"You and Tom are….dating?"

Gabriella looked down.

"You are?" Troy asked in disbelief.

Gabriella slowly nodded.

"Do you love him?"

Gabriella didn't know what to say. Of course she didn't love Tom. But he could be watching. "….no….I love you." She mumbled quietly as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Brie, what did Tom say on the phone?"

"We're going on a date later. At the park." Gabi whispered.

"I'm coming with you."

"Troy, no-"

"You said you wanted me to. And now even if you don't I want too."

"Troy, what if he hurts you?"

"I don't care what he does to me. As long as your safe, I'd rather be black and blue all over."

"Troy I can't let you risk it-"

"Gabriella, I don't care. I have to protect you. I want to protect you. I'm not going to let him hurt you. I can't. I would die if I knew that I could've protected you, and you got hurt."

"Please…don't do this. I wasn't thinking about you when I said it first. I was being selfish, only thinking about me."

"No, you weren't. I've taken care of Tom before, I can do it again. He's not going to kidnap you. Not this time, Gabriella."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. Why would you think that, Brie?"

"You keep saying _Gabriella_. Not _Brie _or _Gabi_. You never say Gabriella unless you're angry with me."

"I'm sorry but I'm serious here. We can't let him win. Not this time around."

Gabriella nodded. "Will you stay with me? Until the date?"

"Of course. Come here." Troy said opening his arms.

A small smile appeared on Gabi's face as she crawled onto the bed and cuddled into Troy's side.

A thunder clap shook the house.

Gabriella whimpered and buried her head in Troy's shoulder.

"You're ok, baby Brie. You're ok…." Troy soothed.

"I feel kinda bad about this." Gabi mumbled suddenly.

"Why?"

"Because….I'm going to be a freshman and I'm still afraid of thunder storms."

"Brie, everyone's got something their afraid of."

"What are you afraid of?"

"That….is not important."

"Troy! C'mon! Tell me what your afraid of!"

"Fine. I'm afraid of the dark."

"No your not, I know that."

"Alright…I'm afraid of loosing my best friend. That is the dead, bottom line, real truth."

"Who's your best friend?" Gabriella asked looking up at him.

"Who do you think?"

"Chad?"

"Nope."

"Jason? Zeke?"

"Good friends but not the best."

"Who then?"

"Her name's Gabriella Anne Montez. Have you heard of her?" Troy said smiling and looking at Gabi.

"Um, actually, I haven't. The name doesn't ring a bell." Gabi said smiling and playing along.

"Oh, well….she's got long dark hair, sometimes she curls it but that's just her, she sweet, kind, generous, forgiving, and she's got the most amazing brown eyes I've ever seen."

"Thank you." Gabriella said smiling at Troy.

"It's true. I mean everything I said."

"Yeah, well I have a best friend….he's a complete dork!" Gabi said rolling towards the edge of the bed.

"Oh, no you don't, Montez! There's a punishment involved here." Troy said getting up and chasing after her.

"Oooh, I'm so scared!" Gabriella said laughing.

"Get back here, Montez!" Troy said chasing her around her room.

"No way-Troy put me down!" Gabi said as Troy wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around.

Troy threw her on the bed. "Not without punishment!" Troy said getting on top of Gabi and started tickling her.

"N-no! T-Troy…St-stop i-it!" Gabi said twisting back and forth.

"Say the magic words!" Troy said laughing at his best friend.

"N-never! I-I c-can t-take i-it!" Gabi said between laughing.

"Then I won't stop!"

"St-stop! T-Troy! N-not f-funny!"

"Then why are you laughing?"

"T-Troy!"

"C'mon, Brie. You know the magic words."

"F-fine!"

Troy stopped and let Gabriella sit up.

"Troy Bolton is the bestest friend in the whole wide world."

Troy grinned. That's how they always say it.

Suddenly, Gabi's phone started vibrating again. "Crap." She muttered.

"Hello….no….don't call me that I told you…ok…I'll be right there." Gabi said and hung up.

She sighed. "Date time."

"Don't worry. I'm 'coming' with you. Remember?"

"Right, let's go."

"I'm going to go out the backyard so it doesn't look like I came with you. Don't worry though I'll keep a close eye on you." Troy said grabbing his Wildcat jacket.

Gabi looked at it. It was white of course with BOLTON in red letters on the back. Along with the Wildcat on both sides of the hood outlined in red.

She always used to wear it when they were dating. She'd wear it to games even though it was very baggy. She loved it anyway.

Gabi nodded as they headed their separate ways.

Troy climbed over the railing, climbed down the tree, and walked out of the Montez backyard.

He casually walked down the sidewalk watching Gabriella walk to the park. She shot him a scared look.

He texted her:

_To Brie_

_Don't worry _

_I got ur back_

_From Troy _

She nodded at Troy as they walked on to the park. Of course, Troy kept his promise and stayed a distance behind her.

As Gabriella got closer to the park she could see Tom sitting there waiting and it didn't help her nerves at all.

_Maybe if I'm lucky I'll throw up _She thought.

She looked back at Troy again.

He nodded at her.

She walked over to Tom slowly.

"Hi." Was all that she could say.

He looked up at her. "Hey, Bella."

"I told you, don't call me that."

Tom gripped her arm. "What'd you just say?"

"Nothing!" She yelped.

Troy looked up at her from his spot on a bench.

"That's what I thought."

"Why'd you want me here?"

"Because, we need to talk."

"You're breaking up with me?"

"No. Have you been talking with Bolton?"

"Uh, no. Why?" Gabi said.

"I thought I saw him following you."

"No way." Gabi covered.

Troy looked up at her.

Gabi shot him a worried glance.

"Who do you keep looking at?" Tom said about to look at Troy.

"No one!" Gabriella said quickly blocking Tom's view.

"You need to get rid of him."

"I can't. He still loves me and I still love him."

"Shut up!" Tom said gripping her arm harder then before.

Gabi inhaled sharply.

Troy looked at her again.

"What did I say about talking about Bolton?"

"I don't care what you say, I love him." Gabriella said even though she knew he would just grip her arm harder and harder.

"Stop that!" Tom said.

"No. Nothing you do can make me stop loving him!" Gabi said as she got up to leave.

Tom stuck his foot out to trip her.

Gabi fell to the ground but before her face hit the ground she caught herself. "Ow! My ankle!"

"Love you too, Ella." Tom said as he walked off.

Once Tom was out of sight, Troy rushed over. "Are you ok, Gabs?"

"No…my ankle…it really hurts. I didn't think it'd hurt this much from him tripping me." Gabi said rubbing her ankle.

"Here, let's get you home. And then we'll see what happens ok?"

Gabi nodded as Troy picked her up bridal style.

Finally when they got home, Troy laid her down on her bed.

"You still ok?"

"My ankle is killing me. But other then that, fantastic." Gabi said sarcastically.

"Calm down, Brie." Troy said sitting on her bed.

"Well, what are we going to do?"

Troy slowly took off her sneaker and her sock as Gabi inhaled sharply again.

"God…Troy that hurt." Gabriella mumbled.

They both looked at her ankle is was a little swollen.

"I think I twisted it a little…."

"Yeah, I think so, Brie. Try and turn it and tell me if it hurts."

Gabi barely moved her ankle to the left and she said, "No…no, I can't."

"Ok…ok, just calm down, Brie."

She shook her head. "It hurts too much, Troy."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yeah…why?"

"I want to try something but I want to make sure you're ok with it."

"Well…what are you going to do?"

"My dad sometimes does it when I twist my ankle in gym. It might hurt though."

"How bad?"

"At first it'll hurt a lot but as it goes on it feels a lot better."

"Then I don't want to do it."

"It'll help…"

"No, I-I can't take this pain as it is."

"Please, Brie?"

"Troy…"

"Please…it'll help. It helps a lot trust me."

Gabi sighed and looked at me. "Fine, but I think this is pretty stupid."

Troy sighed and shook his head. "Ready?"

"Yeah…" Gabi nodded.

Troy gently massaged Gabi's ankle.

"This is what you're dad does- ow, ow, ow….that hurt!"

"Not so stupid now, is it Gabs?"

"Hm." Gabi said crossing her arms over her chest.

Troy shook his head and stopped. "Try it now."

"I don't know what you're talking about. It's not going to work."

"Just try, Brie."

Gabriella slowly moved her ankle. "It….worked?"

Troy smiled.

"I'm sorry for being moody before. I just…I'm a mix of scared and nervous."

"It's fine, Brie. Really, I don't blame you."

"Thanks Troy."

"Anytime, Brie." Troy said as he gently kissed Gabi's forehead.

"I gotta go. You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah, and if not, I'll call you."

"Alright. See you later Gabs. Maybe tomorrow?"

Gabi nodded and smiled. "Definitely."

**A/N-I hope you guys liked it! It's long isn't it? Almost a complete 8 pages long…anyway, give your guys' view of the movie Beastly. What do you think? Even if you didn't see it, you should! Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N-Hey guys! **

**Sorry I haven't been updating!**

The next morning, Gabriella dragged herself out of bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning, Gabi." Her mother greeted.

"Hey, Mom." Gabi said sitting down.

"Oh, sweetie could you get the mail? Please?"

"Yeah, sure Mom. I'll be right back." Gabi said.

Gabriella slipped on her flip flops and began walking down the path from the front door to her mail box. Before she could reach the mailbox however, a figure grabbed her and pulled her

behind her house, and pushed her up against the wall.

"Get off!" She yelled before the figure put his hand over her mouth.

"Shut up, Bella!" Tom whispered.

"Wh-what d-do y-you w-want T-Tom?" She stuttered.

"Where are you going today?"

Gabi thought quickly. She was planning on going to Troy's but she couldn't tell Tom that.

"I-I'm spending the d-day w-with my mom. Sh-she w-wants t-to kn-know more about y-you." She lied.

Tom nodded. "Good. Meet me later on today at the park, alright?"

"Why so you can give me another twisted ankle?" Gabi countered.

"Watch your mouth!" Tom said gripping her upper arms.

Gabriella yelped in pain. _Oh Troy why can't you just walk by?_

The pair stopped talking and you could hear someone walking toward the Montez's front door.

Both Tom and Gabriella looked around the corner. Sure enough, to Tom's dismay and to Gabriella's joy, it was Troy.

Tom pushed Gabi up against the wall again. "Not a word." He whispered fiercely, gripping her upper arms harder.

Gabriella whimpered in pain, praying that Troy heard it.

With Troy a few minutes earlier…..

Just as Troy was about to knock on the door to visit Gabriella, he heard a noise. Was it…no it couldn't be….it was Gabriella's whimper. He'd know that sound anywhere.

He quietly walked towards where he heard it and saw Tom standing there holding Gabriella up against a wall. Gabriella had a terrified look in her eyes and Tom smirked.

"Get away from her!" Troy yelled. He didn't care if Tom found out that he knew something, he couldn't let his Brie get hurt.

"Back off, Bolton! She's my girl now." Tom said pushing Troy away.

"No!" Gabriella whimpered as she slid to the ground.

"Oh, so that's how you treat girls? Yeah, right. Just go home, Wesley." Troy said as he pushed Tom so hard he fell to the ground.

Tom quickly got up. "Watch it Bolton. I'll be back for her." He muttered to Troy as he walked away.

Troy bent down to look at Gabriella. "Brie? Are you alright?"

"I-I think so." Gabriella said letting out a shaky breath.

Troy helped her up. "Are you ok to walk?"

"I don't know…." Gabi said starting to walk but she was shaking so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

Troy quickly caught Gabriella by her waist. "A little shaky there, Brie?" He asked

Gabi tried to hold in a giggle. "A little." She said softly.

Troy helped her to the front door and her mother rushed over.

"Gabriella, are you alright, you're shaking."

"I-I'm fine…Mom. Troy's got me." Gabriella responded looking up at Troy.

"Good. I always knew Troy was useful for something besides basketball." Ms. Montez teased Troy who smiled at the joke.

Gabi shook her head as Troy led the way up to her bedroom.

As soon as Troy got Gabriella settled he asked, "You hungry?"

"Not so much." Gabriella said with tears running down her face.

"Oh, Brie," Troy said sitting on her bed. "Why the tears?"

"I just hate the fact that when he's around, I go weak. I'm always so scared."

"Gabs, that's normal. Just hopefully, it won't involve a judge this time."

"Then why do I feel so weak and scared?" Gabriella said looking at Troy in the eye.

"Like I said, it's normal. He put you through things that you shouldn't have experienced when you were only twelve. Why he did it, I don't know, but hopefully things won't go too far this

time." Troy said.

"I hope not."

"Then I don't have to worry about tying that stupid tie again!" Troy smiled.

Gabriella let out a laugh. "Yeah," She said looking down. "You're right."

"You ok?"

"Yeah…I'm fine. I just, am a little freaked out."

"Well, I'm going to tell you one thing, you took him a lot better then times in the past."

"Thanks." She smiled wiping her tears.

Suddenly, Ms. Montez burst into the room. "Gabi, I can't hide this any longer."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked sitting up.

"I saw…what Tom did to you." Ms. Montez said.

Troy and Gabriella looked at each other shocked.

The secrets out.

**A/N-Uh oh, how are Troy and Gabi going to handle this one? What will Ms. Montez say? Will the police get involved? **

**Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N-Hey guys! Hope you like the new chapter!**

"Mom, it's not what it looks like." Gabriella started.

"Then what is it? Because to me, it looks my daughter insists on being with a boy that hurts her."

"Well, that's not it. H-He just has a temper. A t-terrible one. I w-was telling him he n-needed to get h-help w-with it, and-"

"No, Gabriella. I've never had to say this to you. I'm sorry I do, but you cannot see Tom anymore. I forbid you to."

Troy started walking towards the balcony doors. "I'll…just be…going."

"No!" Gabriella said walking over to him. "Troy, I can't do this without you." She whispered.

"You're doing fine, Brie. And maybe your mom's right. It'll be an excuse to stop dating Tom." Troy whispered.

"You know why I can't do that." She whispered.

"Brie, you have to. Because if you don't listen to your mom, all it's going to do is get you in trouble. And you'll be even more stressed then you already are.

I've hated this idea from the start, but I just couldn't say no to you this time."

"Troy….please. Just stay."

Troy sighed and looked down.

"Troy, look at me." Gabriella said softly.

He looked at her.

"I'm not strong, I can't do this without you-"

"Yes, you are strong." Troy said.

"No, I'm not….please just stay here."

"I'll stay but we're talking about this later."

Gabriella nodded and walked back to her mother. "Mom, please, you don't understand, T-Tom…just…"

"Gabriella, you are not allowed to see Tom ever again. I want you to break up with him. And to make sure you do that and to keep you safe, Troy is going

with you."

Gabriella sighed and sat down on the bed, holding her face in her hands.

Ms. Montez sighed and left the room.

"Brie," Troy said.

Gabriella looked up at him.

"You ok?"

"I don't know what to do."

"Hey," Troy said sitting on the bed beside her. "You'll be ok, I'm right here for you. And when you go to break up with Tom, I'll be standing right there next to

you, ready to punch him if he moves so much of an inch in your direction."

A soft smile appeared on Gabi's face. "Thanks Troy. You always know what to say."

Troy wrapped his arm around his best friend and rubbed her arm. "Like I said before, it's a gift."

She shook her head. "You're such a dork."

"I take those as compliments now, so thank you."

Gabi laughed and said, "Troy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything Brie."

"Do you think the cops will have to be involved?"

Troy sighed. "I don't know, Bella. But I hope not. Hopefully, things will end here."

"I have a feeling they won't."

Before Troy could reply, Gabriella's phone rang.

Sighing she picked up, "What?" She said into the phone irritated.

"Hey, Ella." Tom said.

"What do you want, Tom?"

This time Gabriella wasn't afraid of him.

"We need to talk. Meet me at the park in 10 minutes."

Gabi sighed and hung up and looked at Troy.

"I heard everything, I'll be right there with you."

She smiled at him. "Thanks Troy, but what if he tries something?"

"If he tries something, _I'm_ going to try something."

She sighed. "Ready?"

"I am…but are you?"

She shook her head. "But with you by my side, I think I can do it."

* * *

Once they got to the park, Tom saw Troy and lost it.

"Back off of my girl, Bolton, she's mine now."

"Gabriella is not a piece of property, she's a human being. And you know what, with the way you treat her, I'm not surprised why no one wants to date you."

"Tom, we need to break up." Gabriella spoke up.

"What?"

"My mom saw what you were doing to me, and she wanted me to break up with you."

"Ella, this doesn't mean you have to-"

"Yes, Tom. It does. I don't want the police to get involved here. So leave me alone."

With that Gabriella turned on her heel and walked straight home.

"Brie," Troy said grabbing her hand.

"Hm?"

"I'm really proud of you."

"What'd I do?"

"You stood up to Tom, that's what."

Gabi put on a fake smile. _Then why do I feel so defenseless?_

**A/N-Again, sorry for uploading late…I just…haven't had the time. So anyway, Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM!**

**Hey guys! **

**I'm really, really, sorry that this chapter is late. I just haven't….really had the time lately….and um…well, at least it's out. So…..**

**Hope you like the new chapter!**

Once Troy and Gabriella got back at Gabriella's house, she walked into her room. "Troy…I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"I have a really bad feeling….that this isn't the end. And that it's only going to get worse." Gabi said with tears in her eyes.

"No crying, Brie. He's caused you too much pain, he isn't worth crying over."

"I just feel so defenseless, Troy."

"Come here," Troy said opening his arms.

Gabriella buried her face in his chest. "I hate this." She mumbled.

"As in Tom?"

"Yeah," She whispered pulling back.

"You know something Brie?"

"What?"

"You've taken this all really well the second time around."

"Yeah, that's why I'm crying my eyes out again right?"

"It's ok to cry, Bella. If it's not now, you'll end up crying a lot harder later."

"Shut up, I would not!" She said whacking his arm.

"We both know you would, Brie." He grinned.

"Troy...I have a serious question for you."

"Yes, Brie?"

"Why are you still there for me...even when I broke up with you, and fought with you, and pushed you away?"

Troy sighed. "Because, I promised I would always protect you. I promised you I'll always be there. I don't go back on my promises."

"But I didn't keep my promises to you. I feel horrible about it but I didn't."

"Do you still have the 'T' necklace on?"

"Yeah, I never took it off. When Tom was around I just tucked it under my shirt." She said softly, taking out the necklace.

"Then you didn't break you're promise to me."

"Thanks Troy."

"Just remember though, Brie. If you want to talk about anything, I'll listen."

Gabi nodded. "I know."

Troy walked to her balcony doors. "It seems I'm over here a lot more often this summer then planned."

"Is that bad?" Gabriella asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

"No. I'm just saying."

"Are you ok, Troy?" She asked suddenly.

"Me? I'm fine…just fine." Troy said slowly.

She gave him a look as if saying, 'You're my best friend, I can read you like an open book!'.

"Well, I mean…I uh, well-"

"Troy, come here." Gabi interrupted him.

He walked over to her.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm wondering...what's going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Whether or not Tom is going to leave you alone. If he does…what's going to happen or if he doesn't what's going to happen."

Gabi nodded. "I get what you mean."

"If he doesn't leave you alone, I'll probably have to wear that stupid tie again." Troy groaned.

"That's really the only reason you'd be upset about it?"

"Yeah pretty much."

She looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Just kidding Gabs." Troy smiled.

Gabi shook her head smiling. "Your such a dork."

"Once again thank you, I take those as compliments now."

"Troy, I was just thinking...I have an important question for you." Gabriella said, turning serious.

"What is it?"

"Well, I mean with Tom and I broken up...and he temporarily is gone...where does that leave _us_? As in, our relationship."

"Whatever you're comfortable with."

"I'd be most comfortable...if you were my boyfriend, because I know you'd protect me and take care of me."

"I do that anyway, Brie. But I would love it, if you were my girlfriend."

Gabi smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "So now its official."

Troy nodded.

"But Troy, I don't want to jump into anything. I hope you can understand that."

"Of course I can."

"Now you better get home before your mom thinks you live here. I'll be fine. My mom is here and if I need you I'll call you."

"Alright, Brie. I love you." Troy said kissing her forehead.

She smiled. "I love you too."

* * *

After Troy left, Gabi sat around in her room and cleaned up, read her book, or just sat there.

It was when she was reading her book that she saw a shadow run across her balcony.

She looked up.

No one was there.

Gabi got off her bed and slowly walked to the balcony doors. She quickly locked them and drew all the shades.

"Gabriella! Dinner's ready!" Her mom called.

"Perfect timing." Gabi breathed.

When Gabriella sat down for dinner her mom asked, "Did you break up with Tom?"

"Yeah, mom." She said softly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, after Troy left, I was reading and I could have sworn I saw a shadow run across the balcony, so I locked the doors and shut the shades. But I'm still a little worried."

"Oh, sweetie, I'm glad you told me. You seemed a little...distant lately."

"I'm sorry, Mom but with everything going on…I guess I just…didn't notice."

"It's alright, Gabi. How about tonight we both sleep in the living room? Would that make you feel better?"

Gabi nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

* * *

That night, Ms. Montez and Gabriella set up downstairs to sleep.

"Are you sure your ok with this sweetie?"

"Yeah, Mom. It's fine. I feel a lot better already." She reassured her mom.

Ms. Montez nodded and turned so her back was facing Gabi and fell asleep.

Gabriella did the same. Except, after a while she couldn't sleep.

Suddenly, she heard something from upstairs. She grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen and slowly, walked upstairs.

Gabi opened the door to her room to see a shadow standing in front of the doors.

She ran to get her cell phone of off her nightstand.

She texted Troy:

_Where r u?_

She stared at the shadow. It looked like a boy…but was it Tom or Troy?

As long as the balcony doors were locked, she knew she would be ok.

Her phone vibrated:

_ At home_

_Is everything ok?_

Her hands started to shake so hard she dropped the phone.

If Troy was at home then that must be Tom.

Should she tell her mom? What about Troy? Should she call the police?

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Gabi picked up her phone and called Troy.

"_Hello? Brie? What's wrong? Are you ok?" _

"Troy...he's here...he's right outside my balcony...help me…please…"

"_Brie, just calm down. Are you sure it's him?" _

She could hear him moving around through the phone. "Troy…just please hurry…"

"_Ok, Brie. I'm coming." _

The door knob on her balcony started to jiggle.

"NO!" She screamed running over to it and she held tightly, to stop it from moving.

The light flipped on in her room and her mother ran over. "Gabriella, what's wrong?"

Gabriella just gripped the door knob tighter. "Go away Tom!" She screamed.

The shadow didn't move, only tried harder to get in.

"Gabriella let go of the handle." Ms. Montez said, trying to get her hand off of the door knob.

"No, NO! Troy!" She yelled.

Troy ran in. "Brie, calm down. Just let go, ok?"

"No! He'll get in!"

"Brie, hey, hey, look at me," Troy unlocked the door then quickly re-locked it. "It's all locked. Tom can't get in. The doors and windows are all locked in the house too, right Ms. Montez?"

"Yes, I made sure of it before we went to bed." Ms. Montez nodded.

"Just calm down, Brie." Troy soothed.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Shhh...you'll be ok...you'll be fine. You're safe."

"Did you call the police?" Ms. Montez mouthed to Troy.

Troy nodded slightly.

Ms. Montez walked downstairs.

"C'mon Brie, lets get you out of here."

"Where would I go?" She asked softly, picking her head off of his shoulder.

"Just relax, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Gabi laid her head back down.

Troy walked into the guest room and laid her down. He walked towards the door.

"Troy don't go." She whimpered.

"I'm right here, relax, Brie. Try and get some sleep." He said sitting back on the bed.

She nodded and closed her eyes.

He stroked her hair until her breaths became even. He slowly got up and walked toward the door. Troy walked out into the hallway and slowly closed it behind him. He walked down the hallway and looked into Gabriella's room. The light was still on and the balcony door was open.

He ran downstairs. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes, Troy. Everything's fine. Tom is being arrested for abuse of a minor and because he didn't do his jail sentence. The police have been looking for him for a year. He only did two years of his jail sentence he received 2 years ago when he attempted to kidnap Gabi."

Troy nodded. "Good."

"Where's Gabriella?"

"She's upstairs in the guest room, sleeping."

"You should probably get up there before she notices your gone."

"Thank you, Ms. Montez." Troy said walking towards the stairs.

"Troy?"

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Thank _you_. If Gabriella never would have met you…I don't know what would have happened with Tom. Thank you for caring for my daughter."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Ms. Montez. And don't thank me for caring for her. I want to make sure she's always safe. I'd die if anything happened to her."

Ms. Montez smiled. "Goodnight, Troy."

"Goodnight."

**A/N-Loooooong chapter, huh? I don't think you guys mind though do you? Sorry for the late chapter, again.**

**Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM!**

**Hey guys! **

**I hope you like the new chapter!**

The next morning Gabriella woke up and looked around. She was still at home, but in her guest room. Troy was still sleeping next to her.

"Troy…Troy…Troy, c'mon wake up!" She said shaking him.

"What's wrong Brie?" He asked her, sitting up.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know…why are we in the guest room?"

"You don't remember what happened last night?"

"Well, I had a really freaky dream…it wasn't a dream, was it?"

"No, Brie. It happened."

"Then what happened to Tom?"

"He was arrested for abuse of a minor and violation of his jail sentence."

"Oh…then what happens now?"

"It ends. Its over."

"But…it can't be."

"What do you mean? Don't you want it to be over?"

"Of course, but…it just doesn't seem right."

"Why not?"

"Never mind. Your right. I'm probably over re-acting. Let's go see what's for breakfast." Gabi said getting out of bed.

When Troy and Gabriella walked into the kitchen, Ms. Montez had a panicked look on her face.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Well, it seems that Tom got out of jail."

"Again?" Troy asked, shocked.

"What?" Gabriella shouted.

"The police just called this morning." Ms. Montez said, wrapping an arm around her daughter.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"They said to just continue our daily activities but to make sure that someone is always with you, even at home."

"I knew this wasn't over! I just knew it!" Gabriella shouted, as she started pacing.

"Gab, just calm down. Everything'll be fine, right Ms. Montez?" Troy said, grabbing Gabriella's shoulders to stop her pacing.

"Of course, sweetie. Troy's right. We need to keep a positive attitude."

"At least you don't have to worry about school." Troy said, not letting her go.

"Hm. Yeah, that's the best part." Gabi said sarcastically as she walked out of the kitchen.

Troy followed. "Gabriella,"

She stopped and looked at him from the stairs.

"Everything ok?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I just…you know."

He nodded. "You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah. Eventually."

"What's on your mind?" Troy said, walking to the stairs and sitting down.

"I knew it wasn't over. I knew it couldn't end so quickly." She said, sitting down next to him.

"You couldn't do anything though, Brie."

"I know…but I just don't know what to do anymore."

"How about you come over to my house today? Will that make you feel better?"

"I guess so. I mean, I want to spend the day with you but you know."

Troy nodded and said, "You don't have to if you don't want to, Brie. I'm not going to make you."

"If you really want me to be honest, I'm actually still tired."

"Then head up to bed for a little bit."

"No, that's rude, I don't want to leave you alone with my mom."

"I'll be fine. Just call me when you wake up and maybe we could do something."

"Ok. I will. Thanks Troy."

"No problem." He said kissing her forehead.

She smiled and walked upstairs.

Troy walked into the kitchen. "Ms. Montez, I just wanted to let you know that Gabriella went back upstairs and I'm heading out."

"Oh, alright, Troy. Did Gabriella say why she was going to bed?"

"She said she was tired but, I think that's just her polite way of saying that she wants to be alone."

"Ah, I'm sure your right. Well, I'll talk to her. I'm sure its nothing too serious."

Troy nodded. "I'll see you later, Ms. Montez. And uh, good luck with Gabi."

"Thanks Troy, I might need it."

* * *

Upstairs with Gabriella...

She was laying in bed, like she told Troy. But she wasn't tired enough to ditch a day with him. She heard them talking, and Troy was right, it was her polite way of saying that she wanted to be alone.

A soft knock came from the door.

Gabriella turned away from the door. "Come in."

"Gabriella? What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Nothing, Mom."

"Well, if you didn't want to talk to Troy about it, there's obviously something wrong." Ms. Montez said, sitting on the bed.

"I'm tired."

"You and I both know your not tired enough to skip a day with Troy. So what's going on?"

"I'm worried."

"About?"

"It's silly."

"I bet it's not."

"Well, I don't want to talk about it, ok? I just want to be alone."

Ms. Montez sighed. "Alright. Fine. I get it. But if you do eventually want to talk, I'm here, Gabriella."

"I know, Mom. Thanks."

Ms. Montez walked out of the room.

Gabi sat up and texted Troy:

_Hey…um sorry 4 being rude earlier_

_I hope u can 4give me could we plz tlk? _

_Meet me in the backyard hammock _

_Plz dnt b mad troy im really sorry I just needed to think_

_Xoxo Gabi _

She sighed, got up from her bed and walked over to her balcony, climbed over the edge, and down the tree. She sat in the hammock and waited for Troy.

* * *

With Troy...

His phone vibrated signaling a text message. He read:

_Hey…um sorry 4 being rude earlier_

_I hope u can 4give me could we plz tlk? _

_Meet me in the backyard hammock _

_Plz dnt b mad troy im really sorry I just needed to think_

_Xoxo Gabi _

He shut his phone and walked over to his mom. "Hey, Mom, can I go to Brie's house for a bit?"

"Sure, sweetie. Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to visit her."

"Oh, alright. Tell Ms. Montez I said hi."

"I will, thanks Mom." Troy said walking out of the house.

He walked straight to Gabriella's house and into her backyard to see her curled up on the hammock, sleeping. He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

She snuggled closer to him. "Thanks for coming."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Well, I was hoping it wasn't Tom and I knew if I said 'Thanks for coming' you'd say 'How'd you know it was me.' Plus you smell like…well, you." Gabi said looking up at him.

He laughed. "Well, thanks…I think. But I was never mad at you. I understood that you needed to be alone."

"Good. So then I don't have to explain."

"Well, you do have to explain why you wanted to be alone."

"I need to think."

"About?"

"Everything."

"You mean Tom, us, your mom, a possible trial, being protected, and still worrying about being a freshman?"

"Yeah," She whispered. "seems like this summer is going by so fast."

"I know."

"Hey, Troy?"

"Hm?"

"Will you be there for me? No matter what happens?"

"Brie, look at me,"

She looked up at him.

"That is probably one of the stupidest questions you ever asked me, because you should already know the answer. Of course, I'll be there for you."

Gabi smiled. "Thanks. I know its stupid…but you know how girls are."

"Yeah, I know. I date one." Troy joked.

"You always did know what to say, Troy. Since we were little."

"Again, I will take that as a compliment."

"You should. But Troy?"

He looked at her.

"You're still a dork."

"Thanks. My self-esteem is really high thanks to you." He joked again.

Gabi laughed. "You really are. I can't help that."

"Still not helping, Gabs."

"Right, right…but seriously, Troy, thanks for coming. I needed to talk."

"Well, I know your mom always tries to help. Which reminds me, what's up with you not talking to her about everything? You used to always go to her."

"Things changed." Gabi shrugged.

Troy sat up straighter. "Gabriella, she's your mom. You can talk to her about stuff too. Not just me."

"But your so much easier to talk to."

"I'm glad you feel that way, but it's no excuse."

"I hate it when you go all adult mean on me," She sighed. "but I know your right."

"So you promise that's all that's bothering you right now?"

"Well, there is only one thing that I can't help but bring up."

"What's that?"

"The fact that I haven't talked to your mom since 6th grade."

**A/N-Wow. Still lots happening huh? And Gabi still hasn't talked to Mrs. Bolton? What will happen with them? **

**By the way, anyone interested in reading a 'Spy Kids' fic? **

**Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~ **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N-Hey guys! Hope you like the chapter! So sorry I haven't been updating, but I'm working on that. **

**I decided, depending on how the story goes, it won't be as long as I'll Always Be There. Thanks for reading! Oh, and the rating has been changed to T for safety, also depending on the story, I might change it back. Please review! **

_"I haven't talked to your mom since 6th grade."_

Troy nodded. "I know."  
"Do you think that I could...well-um-talk to your mom tomorrow? I'm technically a freshman now, I need to act like one."  
"Of course," He said. His phone vibrated. He flipped it out and read the text. "I gotta go, Brie. I'm sorry."  
"It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow?" "Sure," he kissed Gabi. "night."  
"Night." Gabi whispered.  
She waited untill the gate creaked shut til she sighed. Why was life so complicated? Why did she have to drag Troy down with her?\par She was so tied up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the gate open, she didn't hear soft footsteps on the grass, she didn't hear the footsteps stop, and she didn't notice a shadow cast over her.\par She looked up. There was the face that haunted her nightmares.

Tom.

She jumped up from the hammock and gripped her phone tighter. "Come any closer and I'll call the police." Tom chuckled and looked at the ground. "Your so cute when your scared." "Shut up." Gabi said, planting her feet to the ground. "Bolton isn't here to save you this time." "My mom is right inside, and if I scream she'll hear it." "That's why you won't be able to scream." Tom smirked. Two boys around his age, hopped over the fence and grabbed Gabriella. "I can still scream." She said, trying to wrench her arms out of the boys grip.  
"Oh, don't worry, Ella," Tom said, taking something out of his pocket. "I've got this all planned out."  
He put a white cloth over her mouth and nose. "See you later, princess." Gabriella struggled for a bit fighting the chloroform, then went limp the boys arms. Tom chuckled again, picking up Gabriella. "Thanks guys. Let's get out of here."  
Tom opened up the van door and gently laid Gabriella in the back. He sat down next to her and slid the door close.  
"Let's go guys." And the white unmarked van drove off down the street, driving along to who knows where...

* * *

With Troy about an hour later:

"Hello? Ms. Montez?" "Troy? Oh, thank God I finally reached you. Is Gabriella there with you? Please tell me she's with you."

"No, sorry she's not. Is everything ok?" "I went out to check on her because I noticed that she'd never came inside after dark. So I came outside and looked on the hammock and all that was left was a blanket. I can't find her anywhere and she's not answering her phone." Troy's eyes widened. "You don't think Tom had anything to do with this do you?" "I think it has Tom written all over it." Ms. Montez said, on the verge of tears. "Oh my God. I'll try calling her Ms. Montez, I promise. Do you want to go out looking for her?" "I don't know what to do Troy, I honestly don't." "We should go door to door asking neighbors if they saw anything or heard anything." "Alright, I suppose so. Come over and we'll go from there." "Ok, Ms. Montez. I'll be there soon." Troy hung up without waiting for an answer.

"Mom! Dad! We have to go to Gabriella's house now!" Troy yelled. His parents rushed downstairs. "Why son, what's going on?" Mr. Bolton asked. "It's Gabriella she's missing, again." "Oh gosh, poor Maria. She must be so upset. We have to go Jack." Mrs. Bolton pleaded. "Of course, now c'mon, Troy. Let's go."

As soon as the car stopped Troy jumped out of the car and knocked on the Montez's front door. Ms. Montez opened the door. "Troy, Jack, Lucille, please come in." "When was the last time you saw Gabriella?" Lucille asked. "She was outside, with Troy." Ms. Montez said, shutting the door. "I left around six." Troy said. "We have to go around asking if people saw anything. So that we know how long she's been missing." Jack said. "Maria and I will stay here in case anyone calls, saying Gabriella is with them, or if Gabriella herself calls." Mrs. Bolton said, wrapping a comforting arm around her friend.  
"Ok, Troy and I will go door to door." Mr. Bolton said.

So Troy and Mr. Bolton went door to door. It seemed that no one paid attention at all to what happened. Except one. On the corner of the street, a run down old house. It was the last house and Troy and Gabriella's last hope. Mr. Bolton knocked on the door. A few minutes later, a woman about in her late twenties, opened the door. "Hi, I'm Jack, and this is my son, Troy. We're friends of the Montez family, down the street. We were just wondering if you could help us. Gabriella Montez was supposedly kidnapped today and we were wondering if you saw anything a little on the suspicious side."  
The woman nodded. "I saw a white van driving down the street. It was coming from the direction of the Montez's." She said in a thick Spanish accent.  
A little girl about eight years old, ran up to the door and hugged her mother's leg. The woman put her hand on the little girls head. "A white van...did you see anything else?" "I noticed a girl with brown wavy hair being carried into the van, but I thought it was her brother or someone who was carrying her." "Gabriella..." Troy mumbled. "Gabriella?" The little girl asked, looking up at Troy. "Yeah, the girl's name was Gabriella." Troy answered the little girl. "I know Gabriella!" The little girl smiled. "You do?" The three of them asked. "Yeah, she helped me find my Mami and Papi when I was lost in the park." Troy started to think. Little girl? Lost in the park? Oh, wait, didn't Gabriella say she helped some girl that one time...what was her name?  
I can't remember. "What's your name?" Troy asked the little girl. "Megan." she smiled. "I was six when Gabriella helped me." Megan! That was her name! "Oh, Megan, that's right. Gabriella told me about you. Did you see anything funny looking around here?" Troy asked, bending down to see Megan's face.  
"Mmhm. There was a boy in Gabi's backyard."  
"There was?" Troy asked. "Yeah. I don't know what he said, but Gabriella looked scared but I thought it was her big brother." Megan said. "Sweetie, why didn't you tell me?" The woman asked. "I thought it was her big brother." Megan said, looking up at her mom. Troy stood up again. "Do you remember what time you saw the van drive away?"  
"Around six-thirty." "Thank you so much, you've been a great help to us." Mr. Bolton said, shaking the woman's hand. "Yeah, thank you. Miss...?" "Hernandez. Miss Hernandez." She said. "Thank you, very much Miss Hernandez." "Your welcome. I hope you find Gabriella soon. She helped my daughter and it would be ashame if you didn't find her." Miss Hernandez said, picking up Megan. "Thank you, we'll be sure to contact you if anything happens." Mr. Bolton assured her. Troy and Mr. Bolton walked back to the house. "Any luck?" Mrs. Bolton asked, standing up from the dining room table. "One of your neighbors on the corner said she saw a white van driving away from this direction." Mr. Bolton said. "But that could be anything." Mrs. Bolton replied.  
"She also said, that she saw a girl with brown wavy hair being carried into the van." Troy said. "Oh, that's Gabriella alright." Ms. Montez said. "And her daughter said she saw a boy in your backyard."  
"Oh my gosh, I was just in the kitchen when this all happened. What kind of mother am I?" Ms. Montez said, sitting down on one of the chairs. "She said she saw that around six thirty." Mr. Bolton said. "And its about eight thirty. So she's been missing for about...two hours." Mrs. Bolton said. "But that's technically not a missing person. The police won't be any help to us yet." Ms. Montez said. "I'm going to try calling her."

With Gabriella (Gabriella's POV)  
I groaned. What a headache. I sat up and looked around. It looked like I was in a basement. The memory came flooding back to me. How long had I been out? Where's Troy? What about Mom? Something started vibrating in my pocket. Oh my gosh! I remembered, Tom never took my phone!  
I looked at the caller I.D. "Troy?" "Brie? Where are you? Are you ok?" "I don't know where I am...I guess physically I'm ok...just a headache. But I'm scared." "I know, baby girl, I know. Do you remember anything that could help us find you?" "No...I can't think straight." "What happened? What did Tom do to you?" "I don't know what it was. He put a cloth over my mouth and a few seconds later, I was knocked out." I could hear Troy sigh over the phone. "chloroform." "Oh..is it supposed to give headaches?" I asked, rubbing my head. "Yeah, that's normal." "Troy, I'm really kinda freaking out right now... I don't know how far away I am." I said, on the verge of tears. "It's ok, Brie, just calm down. Everything'll be fine. Just look around, and tell me what you see." Troy soothed. "I can't do it Troy." I whimpered. "Shh..shh...it's ok, it's ok. I'm right here." "I wish you could be right here." "So do I sweetie. I'll find you, I promise, even if it's the last thing I do. Is there a window in that room?" Before I could answer I heard Tom's voice through the door. "Hold on, Tom's coming." I said, shoving my phone into my pocket. Tom opened the door. "Hey, Ella." "What do you want with me?" "That doesn't matter. What matters is that your here, and I doubt you'll be seeing your precious Bolton anytime soon." "Where are we?" "Somewhere for me to know, and you not to find out. I don't need you finding a way out of here. Now follow me." Tom said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the room.  
He pulled me into another room, but this one looked more like a bedroom then whatever room I was in. Tom shut the door behind him and locked it. "What are you doing?" He pushed me onto the bed. He walked closer and closer...and I realized what he was probably going to do. I remembered Troy was still on the phone. I stood up and asked, "If your so sure I'm not going to escape, why wound't you tell me where we're at?" "Fine, we're somewhere deep in the woods. In an old house. But no, we're not near your house." My breath started to quicken, and it came out in short gasps. A knock came from the door. Things started to seem like they were going in slow motion...one of the boys came in.  
They both looked at me, things went a little blurry...and I fainted.

With Troy: He heard a thump through the phone, then some noises, and Tom's voice say, "Leave her there and don't touch her." And the line went dead.  
Troy sighed and hung up. "What happened? Was that her? Where is she?" Ms. Montez asked. "She's fine physically. She has a headache but that's because Tom used chloroform. She's in the woods somewhere, but that doesn't help much at all." Troy said. "Oh my God." Ms. Montez said, a worried expression on her face. "It's enough to go to the police." Mr. Bolton said. "Alright. But Troy, whatever you do, always answer your phone. We can use any updates from Gabriella that we can get." Troy nodded.  
They all agreed it was time to go to the police, so they got into the car and drove off to police station.

A/N-Ok, so the last sentence wasn't very good..sorry. Also, if anything's wrong with the format, I apologize, because I got laptop yesterday,  
and I need a better Word program. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please review!

~WriterAtHeart14~


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N-Hey guys! Again, sorry if the format is a little messed up.**  
**Hope you like the chapter!**

Once they got to the police station, they all walked up to the front desk.  
"Excuse me, we'd like to report a missing person." Ms. Montez said.

The man at the desk pulled out some papers. "How long has this person been missing?"

"She's my daughter. Her name is Gabriella A. Montez. she's been missing for about three hours now."  
"I'm sorry ma'am, but she wouldn't be a missing person unless she was missing for a complete twenty-four hours." The man said.  
"Could you please file a report anyway?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"No, I'm sorry. Unit rules. Come back in twenty-four hours, if your daughter is still missing. I'm sure it's just some teenage thing." The officer shrugged.  
They walked away from the counter.  
Ms. Montez sighed. "I guess we're on our own, for now."

"I'm so sorry, Maria." Lucille said, hugging her.

Troy looked back at the police officer. "You know what? I think that guys last name is Wesley."  
"So what?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"That's Tom's last name." Troy said.

"You don't think he could be hiding something from us, because he knows about Tom, do you?" Mrs. Bolton asked.

"I think he does, and he's covering for Tom." Troy said, nodding.

"We'll have to come back some other time when he's not working the front desk. If we tell someone else the circumstances, I'm sure they'll file a report, Maria." Mr. Bolton reassured her.  
She nodded. "Of course. Thank you all for helping. I don't know what I'm going to do. she's never been kidnapped this long."

"I think we should stay the night at Maria's, for support. And we could help in case anything happens." Mrs. Bolton said.

Mr. Bolton nodded. "I'll run home and get some clothes, you and Troy go with Maria."

When they all met up at the Montez residence, Troy's phone rang again.

Everyone looked at him.

He picked up. "Hello?"

"Troy, please help me."

"Brie..what's wrong?"

"Help me, please." She whimpered.  
"What's the matter baby girl, what happened?"

"He-he...he..." She stuttered.  
"He what, Brie? What'd he do?"  
"...hurt me."

"How baby? What'd he do, can you tell me?"

"..no."

"Ok, are you physically hurt, or just scared?"

"Help me, please Troy. Please, please."

She was acting as scared as a six year old, and it broke Troy's heart. "I know, Brie. I want to. Did you find out where you are?"  
"Somewhere...near home...it's a lone building."

"Good, that's really good to know. Do you think you'll survive a night?"

"..no...it's cold. I want to be with you."

"I know, I know. I wish I could hug you right now. I really do. I promise we'll find you as soon as we can, and everything will be alright."

"Promise?"

"What did I tell you about my promises?"  
"You always keep them..."

"And you're wearing the necklace, right?"

"Yeah."

"There's your answer."  
"Thank you."

"Did you find out anything else?"

"I'm near home...they won't give me back...HELP!" She screamed, suddenly.  
"Shh...shh...Brie, calm down. If you talk too much he'll know your talking to me."

"Please, please, help...help me...please...Troy...I need you."

"Your mom is worried about you." Troy said, trying to calm her down.  
"I miss her."

"Do you want to talk to her?"

"NO! I want to talk to you, please Troy, don't leave me!"

"Shh, Brie, calm down. Everything's fine. I won't leave you." Troy said, sitting down on the couch.  
"Where are you, I want to pretend I'm just at Taylor's house, spending the night for a few days." Gabriella said, closing her eyes.  
"I'm sitting on your couch."  
She opened her eyes. "Your at my house?"

"Yeah, my family is spending the night here."

"I guess we can't see each other tomorrow, like we planned." Gabriella said, quietly letting a soft smile appear on her face.  
"You never know, baby girl."

"I hope we do."

"So do I."

"Troy, I'm going to try to escape tonight. Even if I'm on the run from Tom, at least I'll be away from him."

"No, Gabriella. I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Why not?"

"It could be dangerous. Tom might want to hurt you even more if you try to run away."

"Can I please try?"

Troy sighed. "I'm not going to like it, but that's fine. By the way, what happened earlier?"

"I...I, uh, fainted."

"Why?"

"I...hadapanicattackandIdon'treallywanttotalkaboutit." Gabriella said, quickly.

"You know I can still understand you."

Gabi sighed. "I just don't want to talk about it, not now, later."

"Just try to relax as much as possible, alright Brie? I don't want you to have another panic attack."

"It's not easy when the boy you hate and are afraid of more then anything has you as his prisoner."

"I know but you need to try."

"I can't...,"

"And why not?"

"Only you can calm me down. I only relax when I know your there. Why do you think I had so many panic attacks in sixth grade? Why do you think I wouldn't let anyone touch me when I was at the hospital? Because you weren't there."

"Well, I'm here now."

"So why do you think I calmed down?"

Troy sighed, but it was more of a happier sigh. "Your right."

"Of course I'm right. As always."

"Same old Gab."

"I have to go..someone's coming. Bye Troy."

"Bye, Brie. I love you."

"Love you too." And she hung up.

He hung up. "She...is somewhat hurt. She didn't tell me exactly what happened, and I didn't dig into it because I didn't want her to have a panic attack."

Ms. Montez nodded. "Where is she?"

"Somewhere near home, I think they moved her."

"As in they moved their location?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well, it's been a very long day, and we have a very big day ahead of us, so I think we should get some sleep." Mrs. Bolton suggested.

Ms. Montez nodded. "You guys can sleep in the guest room, and there's a couch in there too."

"Thank you, good night, Ms. Montez." Troy said, walking up stairs.

With Gabriella:  
It was well after midnight, when she was sure Tom and the boys were asleep, Gabriella got up and tried the door. It was unlocked.  
She slowly and quietly opened the door and looked around. No one. She suddenly looked down at her feet. She had no shoes on. How was she supposed to get out of her without any shoes? She'd have to find them. The only light in the entire building was the moon's light. Gabi slowly walked down the hall and looked around. Still no one. She found the room she was in earlier. There were her sneakers on the ground.  
she picked them up, slipped them on, and continued walking around. Finally, Gabi found an exit. She opened up the door and looked around outside. It was definitely a remote building but she could see lights in the distance. She started running towards them when all of a sudden, a bright light shone in her eyes. Gabi tripped and fell onto the pavement and she screamed.  
The car lurched to a stop. "Are you alright?" The driver asked.

"I'm fine...,"

"C'mon get it I'll take you to the hospital."

Gabriella said nothing, walking to the passenger side. She didn't want to go to the hospital, but it was away from Tom.  
"What are you doing out here this late, sweetie? A girl like you doesn't belong out here." The woman said.

"I...I uh, was, uh, I got lost. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"It's not trouble at all." The woman said.

* * *

They pulled into the parking lot of a hospital, right outside of Albuquerque.  
"C'mon sweetie." The woman said. The woman helped Gabriella out of the car, into the hospital, and to the front desk.  
"May I help you?" A nurse at the desk asked.

"Yes, I was driving along and this young girl ran in to the road. I didn't hit her, but she still looks a little bruised."  
"Your name please?" The nurse asked.

"Abby Wesley." Gabriella looked straight at the woman. She was...going...and...Tom..uh oh. She ripped her arm away from Abby. "Get her away from me!" She screamed, running behind the desk.

"What's wrong?" The nurse asked, crouching down to see Gabriella.

"I was...kidnapped...by this boy...and I just ran away from him...and that's his mom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah...,"

"Ma'am could you please step aside for a minute?" Mrs. Welsey sat down on one of the waiting room chairs.

A few doctors rolled in a gurney.

"What's your name, sweetie?" The nurse asked.

"Gabriella."

"Gabriella, could you go and lay down on that gurney?"

"...why?"

"The doctors just want to look you over to make sure your ok. It's nothing major. No operations or anything. Its just a simple check up."

"N-no doctors."

The nurse helped Gabriella to her feet, and laid her on the gurney. "I promise everything'll be fine."

"No, no, no, no!" Gabi screamed, pushing away the doctors hands.

The doctors looked at each other and they strapped Gabriella down. Once they got her into an examination room, the laid her on the bed.

"Gabriella? Is that your name?" One of the doctors asked.

Gabriella nodded.

"We're just gonna do a basic check-up, ok Gabriella? If anything hurts tell us ok?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I want Troy."

"Troy? Who's Troy?"

"My friend...,"

"Do you want to call Troy?" Gabriella nodded again and pulled out her cell phone.

"Ok, we'll leave you to call him, but we'll be right back." The doctor said.

She nodded, dialing Troy's number.

"...hello?" A half-asleep Troy answered.  
"Troy?"

"Brie! Are you ok?"

"I'm at the hospital." She whimpered.

"Are you ok? Did Tom hurt you?"  
"I'm the same as when I last called you...but I need you."

"What hospital are you at?"

"The one right outside of Albuquerque."

"Ok, we're coming, baby girl. We'll be there soon."

"No! Don't leave me!"

"I won't, I won't. I promise."

"Please, hurry Troy."

Troy started thinking. He had to distract her. But how? "I'm coming, Brie. Don't worry."

"I want to see you, I haven't been away from you this long."  
"I know. I miss you too...Briella." Troy said, suddenly remembering his old nickname for her.  
She giggled. "You remembered."

"Of course, I did. I used to call you that all the time."  
They spent another half an hour on the phone talking, Troy trying to make Gabriella laugh...until Troy said, "Ok, Briella. We're here. I'll see you in a bit."

"Hurry Troy." And she hung up.

With Troy:  
Troy ran out of the car and to the front desk. "Is Gabriella Montez here?"

"Yes, we just sent her back to be examined." The nurse said.  
Another doctor stood up. "Are you Troy?"

"Yes."

"Come with me please." The doctor led Troy down a hallway and up to a door. "She your girlfriend?"

"Yeah."  
"Trust me, she cares about you. She won't let us do anything, unless your here."

Troy grinned. "Yeah, I know. It's happened once or twice before."  
The doctor opened the door and Troy saw Gabriella laying there on the bed. She didn't even look up, so she didn't know it was him in the room. She thought it was a doctor.  
Oh, the things he could do to play a joke on her.

"Gabriella?" He said trying to make his voice sound different.  
She looked up and he turned away. "It seems we're going to have to do something a little unplanned."

Gabriella whimpered.  
"You...," He started, walking over to the bed. "are going to have to give me a huge hug because I haven't seen my girlfriend in a long time." He finished, making his voice sound like normal again.

"Troy!" She shouted, jumping up to hug him.  
"Oh, Briella. I missed you."

She smacked him on the arm. "Don't you ever trick me like that again!"

He laughed. "But its fun to."

"Yeah, well, I'll keep that in mind next time, you dork."

"Once again, my self-esteem levels are super high because thanks to you."

She smiled. "Your welcome."

"Now, tell me what happened."  
She whimpered and pulled away from him.  
"No, no, it's ok, Brie. You don't have to tell me yet, come here."  
A knock came from the door. "Is everything all right in here?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Troy answered.

"Well, there's a police officer here, who wants to interview Gabriella. But we need to do the check up first."  
"Can Troy stay?" Gabi asked.  
"It'd be better if he didn't."  
Troy turned to Gabi. "Would you be ok if my mom came in here?"  
"Troy, I haven't even had a chance to talk to her." She whispered.

"Well, now's your chance."

"But-I-ugh...," Gabi sighed.

Troy walked out of the room and to the waiting room. "Mom?"

"What is it Troy? Is everything ok?"

"I need you to go back there with Gabriella. Just let her know that a friendly face is there. She'll have a panic attack if it's all those doctors."

"Alright." Mrs. Bolton walked down the hallway and into the examination room.  
"Mrs. Bolton?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah...everything'll be fine, Gabriella. They just want to give you a check up."

"Where's Troy?"

"He's right outside. It's ok."

"I want him here."

"It'll be over before you know it."

* * *

Another half hour passed, and the check up was done. But the real challenge for Gabriella was about to begin. A woman in a dress suit walked in. "Hi, Gabriella. I'm Emma. I'd like to ask you a few questions."

**A/N-Is Gabi going to get through it? And... the reason I updated so quickly was because I really, really wanted to. You know how if your reading something you just can't wait to see what happens next? Well that's sorta of what happened here. Once more, sorry if the format's a little off. I'm working on that! Leave a review! **

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N-Hey guys! Hope you like the chapter!**

_Another half hour passed, and the check up was done. But the real challenge for Gabriella was about to begin. A woman in a dress suit walked in. "Hi, Gabriella. I'm Emma. I'd like to ask you a few questions."_

"O-ok." Gabriella stuttered.

"Mrs. Bolton, I think it'd be easier for Gabriella to answer questions in private." Emma said.

"No! No...I mean-I need Troy to be here. I-I can't answer anything until Troy is here."

"Troy...that's the boy outside, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It'd be easier without a boy around. A boy caused you pain, so it wouldn't be very easy to talk about that when another boy is present."

"No, it'd be easier if Troy was here! He's my best friend! I trust him and he'd never do anything to hurt me on purpose. He never has hurt me, ever. If anything I've hurt him more!" Gabriella shouted at Emma.

"Gabriella, calm down, you don't want to have a panic attack." Mrs. Bolton said.

"That's fine, Gabriella. Your very strong for still trusting a boy after what happened." Mrs. Bolton helped Gabriella sit up in bed, and Troy walked in.

"You ok, Brie?" She nodded.

Emma shut the door after Mrs. Bolton left. "Ok, Gabriella. I'm going to do what's called a cognitive interview. Do you know what that is?"

"No..."

Emma sat down in front of Gabriella, while Troy sat next to her.

"You try to remember what happened and repeat it out loud. It helps us try to regonize the person who abducted you, so that we can catch them. Do you think you can do that?"

"I can try."

"Good. Now, what is the first thing you remember after you were abducted?"

Gabriella closed her eyes. "I woke up in a room...and it looked like a basement."

"You woke up?"

"He...used choloform. And I had a headache."

"What else do you remember? Was it damp or hot?"

"It was humid. Then Troy called me." She tightened her grip on his hand.

"Tom came in..."

"Tom?"

"That's his name. He goes to West High School. He started tying my hands together. It hurts! Troy! Troy! TROY HELP ME!" Gabriella screamed.

"Hey, shh...shh...I'm right here." Troy said, stroking her hair.

She opened her eyes. "Gabriella, I promise you he cannot hurt you anymore." Emma said.

"Everything's fine, Brie. Your safe here." Troy soothed.

"Do you want to continue?" Emma asked.

Troy pulled Gabi into his lap. "I want to try." She said.

Emma nodded.

Gabi closed her eyes again. "He pulled me into this other room, and it had a bed. It looked more like a bedroom. He pushed me onto the bed. And I knew what he was going to do so I stood up and pushed him away. Before he could do anything, someone knocked on the door and I started to get short of breath...and I...fainted."

"She sometimes has panic attacks, especially when she gets scared." Troy said.

"What do you remember when you woke up?" Emma asked.

"I guess Tom laid me down and tied my legs together when I was sleeping. But when I woke up he was sitting over me."

_Flashback Gabi stirred and opened her eyes. Tom was sitting on the bed, smiling at her. She jumped up. "Get away!" "Are you ready?" "Ready...ready for what? How can I do anything when you tied my hands and feet together? I can barely stand-"_  
_He cut her off by-_  
_End of Flashback_

"I can't tell any more." Gabriella stopped.

"That's fine, you did great, Gabriella." Emma said.

"Thanks." Gabriella said, as Emma walked out.

"What did Tom do?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Gabriella said, turning so that her back was facing Troy.

"Gabriella, please, tell me."

Gabriella said nothing.

"Please?"

She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Troy sighed. "I thought we told each other everything." He said quietly. He kissed her head and walked towards the door.

Gabi sat up. "Troy?" She whimpered.

He turned and looked at her. "Are you mad at me?" She asked, with tears in her eyes.

"Of course not. Have I ever been mad at you?"

"You'll hate me if I tell you what he did. You'll hate me, you'll leave me, you'll say I'm a bad girlfriend!"

"I will NOT hate you, I promise. Just tell me."

"He...he kissed me."

"As in a quick kiss or he made out with you?"

"He...sorta..made out with me." Gabriella could see his jaw tighten and his hands clench into fists. "Troy, are you ok?"

Instead of answering he said, "I'm going to check when you can get out of here." And left the room.

Gabriella sighed. Was he angry at her? She was a bad girlfriend no matter what he said. Why else would he have been that mad?

Ms. Montez came in. "Hi sweetie. How are you?"

"Ok." Gabi shrugged.

"You and Troy had a fight didn't you?"

"Well, no...I-I don't know."

Ms. Montez nodded. "If it makes anything better, you can leave any time you want."

"Can we please leave now? I want to sleep in my own bed."

"Sure, let's go." Ms. Montez and Gabriella walked out of the room together. Gabi looked around for Troy, but didn't see him anywhere. She didn't see him until she got in the car with her mother, and even then Troy didn't so much as glance in her direction. Gabi sighed again, but reached for Troy's hand.  
Still without glancing at her, he took her hand in his.  
Ms. Montez touched her daughter's shoulder, which caught Gabriella by surprise and she whimpered, scooting towards Troy. "Sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to scare you." Ms. Montez apologized.

Troy gave Gabriella's hand a reassuring squeeze, but she still wasn't sure if he was ok with what had happened or not.

It was still dark when they got home, and the parents had sent Troy and Gabriella straight to bed. Gabriella walked into her room and sat on the bed. She didn't expect Troy to follow her but to her surprise he walked into her room. She looked at him straight in the eyes, telepathically telling him that she still wanted him to sleep with her (she was afraid of nightmares) which he must've understood because he climbed into bed after her, but they weren't facing each other. She sighed again.

"How are you?" He whispered.

"I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't said a word to me since I told you what happened. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking, what if you...enjoyed it?"

She turned to face him. "How could you think that?"

"Because...I don't know."

"If I enjoyed it, I wouldn't have run away from him. If I enjoyed it, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Well, what if you felt a spark or something?"

"Troy, I haven't ever felt anything when I kissed anybody else but you."

"Really?"

"Mmhm. Don't you remember our first kiss?"

"Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday."

"Then tell me the story, Troy."

"Alright...well, we were in 7th grade. And it was a Tuesday-"

"It was a Wednesday." Gabi interrupted him.

"Right. It was a Wednesday, and it was during free period. I was outside looking for you, and I saw you...basically curled up in a ball crying. So I walked over to you and asked you what's wrong and you said,"

"Some girls were pushing me around and teasing me about what happened with Tom and how much of a baby I acted like."

"And I told you that you weren't a baby. Even if you did cry. And I pulled you into my lap and sort of rocked you until you stopped crying."

"And when I did you made me start laughing. Which made me feel a lot better."

"Then suddenly we stopped talking, and I looked at you...and I thought you looked kinda cute-"

"I looked terrible!"

"You always look cute, no matter what, Brie. So I took that as an opportunity to just lean in and kiss you."

The lights flipped on.

Both Troy and Gabriella sat up on their elbows. Mrs. Bolton, Mr. Bolton and Ms. Montez were all standing there with smiles on their faces. Mr. Bolton's was more like a grin.

"That was an awfully touching and cute story," Mrs. Bolton said.

"But it's late." Ms. Montez pointed out.

"Now get to bed, both of you, and no funny business." Mr. Bolton said.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Spies! I have spies, in my house." She said, laying back down.

They turned off the light.

"Night, guys." Troy said, laying back down.

**A/N-Whoo, interesting chapter huh? A little drama + lots of TROYELLA = good chapter Right? Please, please, please, be the nice readers you are and leave a review! Oh, and I might publish a little one-shot I thought of today...sooo keep an eye out for that too!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N-Hey guys!**

**Well, I'd like to say that I'm sorry for not updating. Again, I've become lazy with my writing...and I'm definitely not proud of it, but I will FOR SURE FINISH all the stories. It's just hard because of certain circumstances. Thank you all for understanding! **

**To make up for the VERY late update, this chapter will be as long as it can be! **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Gabriella woke up the next morning, and noticed Troy wasn't in bed beside her.

She got up out of bed, and walked downstairs to the kitchen. She found her mom, Troy, and his parents, sitting at the counter.

"Hey sleepy," Troy greeted.

"Hi honey," Ms. Montez said.

"Hey," Gabriella replied still a little groggy, as she walked over to Troy and sat on his lap. She yawned. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing, sweetie," Ms. Montez replied, as she and The Boltons began talking about something else.

"What's up with them?" Gabriella whispered to Troy.

"Forget about them. Do you have any plans today?" He whispered in reply.

She smiled. "Well, I think I could squeeze you into my schedule."

"Good. Because today it'll just be you and me. No problems or anything."

"I'd like that."

* * *

After telling their parents what they were doing, Troy and Gabriella walked "somewhere". Troy refused to tell Gabriella where he was taking her.

"Why won't you tell me?" She whined.

"Because it's a surprise. And I like surprises to stay surprises. Otherwise, it's not a surprise."

She laughed. "No offense, but I have no idea what you just said."

"It's a surprise. You'll figure it out soon," He said smiling.

"Close your eyes," Troy said, stopping after almost another half an hour of walking.

"But I want to see where you're taking me," Gabriella said.

"I promise this will be worth it. Please?"

She sighed and closed her eyes.

Troy took her hand and led her a little farther and stopped quickly.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yep."

Gabriella opened her eyes. It was in the park. But it was a part of the park she'd never seen before. It must've been hidden. There was a picnic blanket with a basket set under a tree.

"I know it's not much, but it's better then sitting in the house all day."

"It's great. I wouldn't have asked for anything better. As long as you're here with me, I'm happy."

They sat down and at first just talked.

"Okay, I know I ask this a lot but, what is it with you and secret hideouts and trees?"

Troy laughed. "I think I just find the outdoors better hideouts."

Gabriella looked down.

"You okay?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. It's just...I don't know. I feel weird, like...I shouldn't be happy right now."

"Brie, if it's about Tom..."

"It's not. At least, I don't think it is." She looked up at Troy.

He looked a little clueless.

"I mean, I'm not used to just being carefree. And how can I be with my kidnapper running around?"

Troy sighed. "Brie...come here."

Gabi crawled over and sat in Troy's lap.

"Right now, you don't need to worry about Tom. He's not gonna control your life and you shouldn't let him. It's _your life._ I know that he makes things complicated. But I promise you, I will always protect you. I'll always be there, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"You know, my mom used to sing me a song when I was little. She said her father used to sing it to her. It's not the happiest song. But it keeps his memory around."

"Will you sing it to me?"

_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, _

_You make me happy, when skies are gray, _

_You'll never know dear, how much I love you, _

_Please don't take my sunshine away._

_The other night dear, when I lay sleeping, _

_I dreamt I held you in my arms, when I awoke dear, I was mistaken, _

_So I hung my head and cried. _

_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, _

_You make me happy, when skies are gray, _

_You'll never know dear how much I love you, _

_Please don't take my sunshine away, _

_Please don't take my sunshine away, _

_Please don't take my sunshine away. _

__Gabriella smiled. "I loved it. It's sweet."

"I guess. I never heard him sing it himself but, I'm sure he did a better job then I did."

"No way. You're my sunshine."

"And you're mine."

She smiled and kissed him. "What do you think my dad would've done about this?"

"He probably would be hunting Tom down himself," Troy joked.

Gabriella laughed. "Yeah, your probably right."

"Why do ask?"

"I just...I don't know. I've had a lot of time for thinking and I thought about him too."

"I thought you might think about him."

"Troy, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Brie?"

"I just wanted to know...what do you think will happen? When or if Tom gets arrested?"

"He will get arrested. I don't have any doubt about that. But what do you mean?"

"I mean...with us...with school...with everything."

"Nothing with us will change, I promise. I don't know about school. I'm sure everything will be fine. We're going into high school. You're already ahead of every subject we're in now, it can't be that hard."

"By school I mean what will everyone think of me."

"I don't care what everyone thinks of you. You shouldn't either. You have me, your mom, Chad, Taylor, and my parents. You don't need anyone else."

"Do you really think that?"

"Gabriella, I know that."

* * *

**A/N-Well, it's as long as I could make it. And I hope you all like it. The song is the song my grandfather, who passed away, used to sing to me. That and a lullaby and by the time he finished, he was the one half asleep, not me lol. But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed I'll Always Be There. I'll try to get back on schedule too. Thank you all for understanding. Happy Valentine's Day! **

**Leave a review! **

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N-Hey guys!**

**I'm SO SORRY for the late update. Please don't give up one me! I'm still alive and around, just having a hard time with writing right now.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

They came home from the park and were now sitting in the hammock, but Gabriella was nervous.

Troy wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. "Everything's okay. He can't touch you now."

"But what if he does?" She asked quietly.

"He'll have to go through me before he even _thinks _about touching you."

Gabriella smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah...but do you think they'll catch him?"

"Of course, and when they do, I'm sure they'll take him out of New Mexico."

"Why do you say that?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Because he's escaped way too many times for them to put him back into a jail he's escaped from. Their idiots if they do that."

Gabriella shrugged. "As long as he's away from me, I'll be fine."

Ms. Montez came out of the house. "Troy, Gabriella, could you come inside? We need to talk."

The couple got off the hammock and walked inside to the kitchen.

Mr. and Mrs. Bolton were sitting at the counter, along with Ms. Montez.

Mr. Bolton nodded at Troy.

Troy sat down at the counter across from his parents and Ms. Montez and pulled Gabriella onto his lap.

"What's going on?" Gabriella asked looking around at each of them.

"Gabriella, I was thinking about a few things and I've come to a decision," Ms. Montez said.

"What is it, Mami?"

"Well, since Tom has been escaping so much I thought it'd be a good idea to move -"

"No! We can't move! I have a life here, I have friends here, Troy's here. We can't do that! You promised until senior year we would stay here!"

"Brie, just let your mom finish," Troy said softly, trying to calm her down.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! We can't move, Troy! That would mean that I would have to be away from you! That would mean that we can't be together," She said, becoming more and more upset.

"Brie, please, just listen to your mom."

Gabriella sighed. "Fine."

"You didn't let me finish. I thought it'd be good idea to move somewhere closer to Troy and somewhere Tom doesn't know. If Tom doesn't know where you live, it'd be safer," Ms. Montez finished.

"Oh...well, that's good. I like that idea."

"Good, because we're moving to our new house tomorrow."

"Wow, okay. Well what's going to happen to this house?"

"The police are going to stake out in the house. And we're going to make our move as unnoticeable as possible, in case Tom is watching the house. If Tom tries to break into the house, the police will catch him and take him to a prison somewhere out of the state of New Mexico."

"Is that how you knew about that? Were you in on this?" Gabriella asked, looking at Troy.

He smiled. "Maybe..."

"Well, I like the idea," She said, turning back to her mom.

"Good, then you and Troy can start packing. No breaks, no anything except bathroom breaks."

Gabriella groaned putting her head down. "No..."

"I got this one," Troy said, sliding Gabi off his lap. She picked her up and put her over his shoulder.

"Troy! Put me down!"

"Sorry, Brie. We've got work to do. Say bye to our parents," He said turning around.

Gabriella looked up at her mom and Troy's parents. "Your not against this at all?"

"Good luck, Troy!" Ms. Montez said, smiling.

"Thanks," He said, walking towards the stairs.

"Put me down, Troy!"

Troy started walking up the stairs and Gabriella gripped his shirt. "Troy, Troy, please put me down, please."

"I'm not going to drop you," He said, continuing walking up the stairs.

"Troy, please!"

Troy quickly stopped and put her on down on the step. "What's wrong?"

"I...I just don't like it when you carry me over your shoulder up the stairs," She said quietly.

"I promise, I won't do it again."

"I believe you, and thank you."

They continued walking up the stairs to Gabi's room.

* * *

They finished packing up Gabriella's room in a two hours and then looked around.

"Wow, I can't believe we're gonna be leaving this house," Gabriella said.

"Yeah, we grew up here," Troy said, sitting on the bed.

"I think I'll miss my balcony the most."

"Yeah, I'll miss climbing up the tree to talk to you at night."

"I'll miss climbing down the tree to get out of here at night."

Troy laughed. "Maybe there'll be a balcony on your new house."

"I doubt it. Balcony's aren't very common anymore."

"Oh, you would know Miss-Know-It-All," Troy joked.

"Yes, yes, I would," Gabriella smiled proudly.

He got and gave her a quick kiss. "But think about it this way, you'll be away from Tom."

"And closer to you." She smiled.

"Two pluses! How cool is that," He joked.

"You really are a dork," Gabriella said, as they both sat on the bed.

"Correction, I am _your _dork, you are stuck with me until the day I die."

Gabriella laughed for the first time in a long time.

"There's that sound I like to hear," Troy said.

"Yeah...I haven't done that in a while," She sighed.

"Don't worry," He said, wrapping an arm around his best friend. "It'll be normal again soon."

* * *

**A/N-Sorry if it's a little short, I just wanted to update. Hope you guys liked it! **

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM!**

**Hey guys!**

**I'm going to start writing more often. I really am. Or at least, I'm going to try. I remember when these stories were practically my life and now I've let them fall behind. **

* * *

The Bolton's helped the Montez's pack up their house, or at least what they needed, in a matter of hours. It was decided that they would everything they can fit into the Bolton's car, and Mr. Bolton would drive it to the new house. They were doing everything they could to make their move unnoticeable in case Tom was watching the house. Mrs. Bolton, Ms. Montez, Troy, and Gabriella rode in the Montez's car behind Mr. Bolton.

"How did you find a house so quick, Mom?" Gabriella asked from her spot in the back seat.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bolton helped me. They were the ones who suggested the idea a while ago, when Tom broke out the first time," Ms. Montez said.

"Were you in on this the whole time and you didn't tell me?" Gabriella asked, turning to Troy.

Troy tried to suppress a smile. "Well...they didn't tell at me at first. They told me a couple of days ago, because they thought you'd jump to conclusions before your mom told you."

She nodded.

They pulled into a new, unfamiliar house's driveway and got out of the car.

"I think you'll like this house, Gabi," Ms. Montez said.

"Why?"

Ms. Montez only smiled.

They quickly unloaded the boxes from the car, and put them in the house. "What's so special about this house?" Gabriella asked, looking around the living room they were standing in.

"Go on upstairs. Second door on your right," Ms. Montez said.

Gabi looked at Troy, who shrugged and they both walked upstairs. She was the first to reach the room and opened the door. She smiled widely. "Troy, look!"

Troy came in behind her and stared across the room.

Balcony doors were on the other side of the room, allowing in the afternoon rays of sunlight shine in the room.

"It's just like..." Gabi trailed off.

"Your old house," Troy finished for her as he walked over to the balcony doors.

Gabriella began walking towards the doors, but stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, noticing her hesitation.

"This is...it's just...it's just another way for Tom to break in."

"Brie, this is why your mom wanted to move. Tom doesn't know where you live anymore."

She took a deep breath. "You're right." She continued walking towards the balcony doors.

"Hey," He said, taking her hand. "I know it'll take some time getting used to it, but Tom can't hurt you here. This is probably the safest place right now."

Gabi nodded. "I know...and you're right...it's going to take some getting used to. But I can do it."

The couple walked out onto the balcony. "It's so pretty up here."

"Yeah, you can see my house from here," Troy said, smiling.

She rolled her eyes. "Dork..." She mumbled under breath.

"Once again, I'm _your _dork."

Gabriella smiled. "Yeah...you are."

He walked back into her new bedroom. "Well, we should probably unpack."

She followed him. "Ugh, why?"

"Because...you want to sleep tonight don't you?" He joked.

"Fine..."

Together they unpacked all of Gabi's clothes and put them in the furniture that was already in the bedroom. After that, they walked back down stairs to see what their parents were doing.

"I'm hungry," Troy groaned.

"When are you not hungry?" Gabriella asked, looking at her boyfriend with a teasing smile.

"Hey, hey, hey, watch it, Montez," He joked.

"Or what?"

"Or this!" Troy picked her up and put her over his shoulder again.

"No, no! Put me down!" Gabi laughed.

"It's payback time!" He smiled walking into the living room. "Hey Mom, Dad, what's to eat?"

The parents smiled at Troy and Gabriella. "Well, we should probably just order pizza," Mr. Bolton suggested.

"I'll go order it," Ms. Montez said, walking into the kitchen.

"I'll help," Mrs. Bolton said, following her.

* * *

After they ate, Troy and Gabriella sat on the couch and were watching TV when Gabriella looked at Troy.

"What is it?" He asked, glancing at her then back at the TV.

"Nothing...I was just thinking."

"About what?" Troy turned off the TV and looked at her.

"Are our parents outside?" Gabriella asked, looking around.

"Yeah, why?"

"What happens now? What if Tom finds where we moved? Or even _that _we moved."

"Like your mom said, the police are staking out your old house because they think he might break in thinking your still there."

"And if he does break in?"

"Then they arrest him and take him out of the state to a jail. I thought your mom told you this?"

"Well...I don't know...I mean...ugh, I don't know...I think I'm going to go lie down." Gabriella got up from the couch and walked upstairs.

Troy wanted to follow his girlfriend but he knew that she probably just needed some space. Instead, he walked out to the backyard where his parents and Ms. Montez were talking. "Hey guys."

"Hey Troy, where's Gabriella?" Mrs. Bolton asked.

"She, uh...went upstairs to lie down."

Ms. Montez looked confused and a little surprised. "Did she say why?"

"No," Troy said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I didn't really ask her...she seemed like she wanted to be alone."

Ms. Montez nodded. "Should I go talk to her?"

He shook his head. "I think she's okay. She probably is just tired."

"I don't blame her. I threw this moving thing on her so quick, she probably needs time to take it all in."

Mrs. Bolton nodded in agreement. "She'll be fine, I'm sure."

...

The rest of the day went by a little slowly for Gabriella. She was a little surprised when Troy didn't follow her upstairs. Usually he was curious when she didn't give him a reason for things. Her bed hadn't been moved yet, so she was just sitting in a desk chair that was already in the room. She heard her mom, Troy, and his parents come in from outside, talk for a few minutes and then the Bolton's left. Her mother's footsteps came from the stairs.

"Gabriella?" Ms. Montez poked her head into the room.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Well, c'mon. Let's get ready for bed. We're sleeping downstairs. Tomorrow we'll get our beds moved in, okay?"

Gabriella nodded as Ms. Montez walked out of the room. She got changed into her pajamas and met her mom downstairs.

The couch in the living room was apparently a pull out couch and Ms. Montez had already pulled it out and made it into a bed.

She laid down sighed. "Mom, are you happy in this house?"

"Well, of course. It'll take some getting used to, but I like it. Why? Don't you like it?"

"Yeah, but I never thought that we'd have to do so much just because of Tom," She said, turning on her side, facing away from her mom. Gabriella closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. But it only felt like a few minutes because her mom was shaking her shoulder. "What is it, Mami?" She whispered, sitting up.

"It's Tom. He broke into the old house. They caught him. We need to go down to the police station before they take him out of state."

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**A/N-Okaay, kinda bad ending, but that's okay, it's still a chapter!(: Hope you guys liked it! **

**Leave a review!**

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N-I DO NOT OWN HSM! **

**Hey guys! **

**Oh my God, I haven't been on here in FOREVER literally! Well, let me explain a few things: **

**I'm posting because: **

**I reread this story, and I'm actually really surprised at how I wrote this story. It's a bad surprised too. I'm not going into details, but I didn't like how I set the age of this story. At least, I don't now. I don't know what I was thinking back then lol. **

**And when I reread this story, I figured it deserved some type of ending, even if it wasn't as good as the rest of the story. **

**Am I going to begin writing regularly again?: **

**Um...I'm not sure. I haven't written fanfics for HSM in literally forever. This chapter alone took forever to write, no joke. I'm not sure if I'm back for sure and even if I was I doubt I even have any readers left. There are probably much better stories than my own on the HSM portion of FanFiction. **

**And finally, I hope whoever is still reading, or just started reading this enjoys the ending. I seriously apologize that it's not very good. But it's an ending right? **

* * *

When Gabriella got outside, she saw the Boltons waiting by the car. She walked over to Troy.

"Hey, are you ok?" He whispered, putting his arm around her.

She nodded as they all got into the car.

The ride to the station was quiet. Ms. Montez kept glancing at Gabriella, who was holding Troy's hand the whole time.

When they got there, they all walked inside and Gabriella kept a hold on Troy's hand.

A police officer came up to them. "Gabriella?" He asked, looking at all of them.

Gabriella stepped forward.

"We know how hard this is, so all you have to do is identify that it's him and you'll be free to go."

"What…what happens to Tom?"

"He'll be taken to a jail outside of the state. It will be safer for you that way."

"Ok…"

They all followed the officer to a viewing room. Right before they went in, Gabriella stopped.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked quietly.

"I can't," She whimpered.

"Brie, yes you can."

"I'm not strong…I can't do it."

"Yes you can. All you have to do is go in there, tell them it's Tom and come right back out. And then it's over," He whispered to her.

"Will you come with me?"

"I don't know if I–"

"Please, Troy! I can't do this without you."

"Can I go with her?" Troy asked, looking at the police officer.

"I don't know if you–"

"Please," Gabriella begged.

"Okay, I wouldn't allow this on normal circumstances…but I guess I could allow it now."

Troy and Gabriella walked into the viewing room with the police officer. There was a large glass window and behind the window Tom was standing in hand-cuffs. "That's him," Gabriella said quietly.

Troy squeezed her hand.

The police officer showed them out and the minute they got out of the room, Gabriella clung to Troy.

"It's okay, it's over," He whispered soothingly, rubbing her back. "It's all over. You're okay."

She pulled back and looked up at him. "Thank you," She said quietly.

He nodded. "Let's go home."

…

"Gabriella! Troy is here!" Ms. Montez called.

Gabriella ran downstairs and over to the door where Troy was waiting.

Troy picked her up and spun her around. When he put her back on the ground, he smiled. "Hey Brie, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"We'll be back later, Ms. Montez. I promise I'll bring her home safe."

Ms. Montez smiled. "I trust you, Troy."

The couple walked out of the house and started walking down the street. Troy planned to take Gabriella to the park to just be together and hang out. He knew that since Tom had invaded most of their summer, they could both use the free, careless time.

"So how does it feel to be completely carefree?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know about completely, but mostly. And I don't know. I don't really feel any different, just happier."

He pulled her to him and kissed her head. "Good."

"What if he comes back?" She asked suddenly.

"He won't come back," Troy told her seriously. "And even if he did, he wouldn't be able to touch you. You're safe."

"Yeah, thanks to you."

"I didn't have much to do with it."

"Troy, if it weren't for you…I don't even know what would've happened. But I know one thing for sure, I wouldn't be here."

He stopped walking and looked at her. "Don't say that. You'd be fine. And you know why?"

She looked at him, waiting for him to respond.

"You'd be fine, because I'll always be there for you."

"But what if Tom–"

"Brie, don't think about that. It's over, and he's gone. You're safe. Let's not think about him. Let's just go to the park and relax."

"Okay, fine," She sighed. "But I'll beat you to the swings!" She yelled as she took off running.

"Get back here, Montez! That's no fair, you got a head start!" He ran after her and just before she reached the swings, he wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her around.

"Hey! No fair!" She giggled as he put her back down.

"Oh says the girl who got a running head start," Troy said.

"Thank you for everything, Troy," Gabriella said, looking him in the eye. "I meant what I said. I wouldn't be here without you."

"And what did I tell you? Don't say that. You'd be perfectly fine without me. Even though…I'm glad I can help you."

"You've done more than that. I just wish I could thank you better."

"Just stay my girlfriend, okay? That's thank you enough."

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**A/N-I always have been and always will be terrible at endings.**

**I'm not worthy of asking a reader to review, but if you'd like to, that'd make my day. (: **

**~WriterAtHeart14~**


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